Punjab School Education Department under the guidance of Secretary, School Education Kamal Kishor Yadav is piloting a training of School Management Committee (SMC) members. This training is for SMCs of 117 Schools of Eminence, 10 Meritorious Schools and 8 Senior Secondary Girls Schools in the state and commenced today (8th January) and till 12th January.
A press statement issued on Monday said in the pilot, the capacity-building sessions will be conducted in 145 schools for 600+ SMC members. This will guide the approach to training 2.8 lakh SMC members across the state. The sessions are aimed at orienting the SMC members towards their roles and responsibilities in supporting the school and identifying and resolving the needs of the school. This initiative aims to build a strong sense of responsibility and ownership in SMCs and support the implementation of schemes in the schools. In an innovative step, the Department of School Education has made a documentary for SMC members and a Booklet, which will be used as a training resource.
Towards bringing the Education Revolution in Punjab, parents and community members play a key role in their child’s learning and school’s development by being a part of SMCs. Only an aware, informed and invested SMC can truly actively participate in partnering with the school to enable change. Bringing schools and communities closer through SMCs and encouraging them to partner can be an uphill task- one which requires insight and initiative. Through this SMC capacity-building initiative, the Department of School Education, Punjab has taken great strides towards fostering partnerships between schools and communities.
One of the key focus areas for the government of Punjab has been building strong relationships with parents and community. In that regard, the Department of School Education, Punjab conducted initiatives such as Mega PTM and a statewide School Management Committee (SMC) formation process in May 2023, in which SMCs were formed across around 19000 government schools in the state. In a landmark move during the SMC formation process, the Department of School Education, Punjab mandated the inclusion of a student in all SMCs across the state.