Delhi govt clears more funds for school management panel

NEW DELHI: To empower school management committees (SMC), the Delhi government on Tuesday approved additional funds to be used for academic and extra-curricular purposes.

Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia made t he announcement, saying t he move will help SMCS to take care of small needs of schools on their own and they would not have to run to the directorate for every small issue.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had l ast year announced it would increase funds allocated to the SMCS and decided to empower them by giving them authority to even hire teachers and resource persons if needed.

Under the new funds scheme, an SMC will get a minimum yearly amount of R 5 lakh per shift.

The funds can be increased based on the number of students enrolled in a school.

“Schools having 1,500 students will get ₹5 lakh. However, the amount will increase up to 7 lakh with the strength of the school” the government said in a statement.

As per the present norms, the SMCS were getting R 4 lakh for morning shift and Rs 1 lakh for evening shift. “50% of the amount will be spent on small maintenance work such as getting blackboards or repairing leakages. And, the maintenance and 50% on SMC initiatives such as engaging expert guest lectures, expert teachers and subject experts,” the government said.

The Right to Education (RTE) Act 2009 mandates the formation of SMCS in all government and private schools. The committees are elected bodies at the school level that monitor functioning and oversee the utilisation of grants. The SMC is headed by the Principal/head of the School (HOS) and consists of two teachers, two social workers and 12 elected parents.