School Management Committee (SMC)

Syllabus: GS2/ Governance; Education; Social Justice

Why in News?

School Management Committee (SMC) Guidelines 2026 was recently announced by Central government in Delhi.

Nodal Agency - Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education.
Vision - To cement the gap between society and school, ensuring every child by 2047 achieves foundational education and literacy.
Objective - Guidelines are designed to align governance of school with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and transform SMCs into active governing body.
SMCs - Were originally mandated under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, the 2026 guidelines expand their scope to share responsibility to community ownership from mere Monitoring.

Guidelines

Universal and Unified Structure

Coverage - Within one month of the academic session starts every school up to grade 12 must form am SMC.
There will be now single SMC to ensure continuity, unlike the previous separate bodies ( for elementary and Secondary)

Composition & Representation

Size - (12–15 members for small schools; up to 25 members for schools with 500 students).
Quota for Parents - 75% of members must be guardians or parents.
Women members - must be at least 50%.
Social Inclusivity - Representation for SC, ST, OBC, Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs), and parents of Children with Special Needs (CwSN).
Tenure - Fixed at 2 years

Financial

SMCs are - authorized to execute civil works costing up to Rs30 lakh.
Funds are - maintained in a separate joint bank account operated by the Parents (chairperson) and Principal (Member Secretary)
Social Audit - At least once a year to ensure transparency, committees are encouraged to conduct social audits.

School Development Plan (SDP)

SMCs are expected to have 3-year SDP with annual sub-plans.

Sub-Committees

To handle specific tasks, SMCs can form:

School Building Committee – For Repairs & Infrastructure.
Academic Committee - To monitor learning outcomes, student attendance, and mental health.

Significance

Decentralization - It shifting power to local community would make school more accountable.
Holistic Development - Focus on mental health, foundational literacy & child safety rather focusing not just on building.
Integrates schemes - Like Vidyanjali, PM POSHAN & Eco- clubs under one umbrella.
Social Movement - Make school governance a "people's movement" where ownership of education is taken by society.

For Reference: The Times of India | IAS Parliament