Changing Framework of Local Governance and - Create

Changing Framework of Local Governance and Community Participation in Elementary Educationgiven by 2008-09 AWP&Bs, there are still very high numbers of out of school children in the35 million plus cities included in the study. To promote educational access to these childrenvarious administrative arrangements have been made implementing educational plans. Whilein some states (Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra) Municipal Corporations have beenempowered and actively engaged, in some other states (Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal)district level agencies are involved to large extent. In Rajasthan, Bangalore, Hyderabad etc.state level agencies are having a more prominent role compared to Municipal Corporations.While there are several examples of such state specific initiatives with positive impacts onaccess and participation, one recent study (Banerjee et al, 2006) has found several gaps withrespect to the functioning of VECs in 280 villages from four blocks in Jaunpur District, UttarPradesh. Many parents were found to be unaware about existence of VECs and VEC memberswere found unaware about their roles. The study reveals that, parents, teachers and VECmembers were unaware about the low learning level of children who were found in largenumber at the time of this research and also the role of public agencies in improvingoutcomes. The authors also described information and advocacy campaigns that wereimplemented to promote local participation.This section thus discussed how local governance has imparted on access and schoolingparticipation of children. Primarily this section focused on involvement of community whichis considered as key to local governance. This section also focused on the various roles ofdifferent agencies like VECs, teleconferencing, ma-beti mela etc. to ensure the value ofeducation and schooling. It also discussed the role of motivators group especially to promotewomen’s education. Women’s representation and participation in panchayat and meetings ofVEC is found to be low. Hence, it is suggested that women need more training opportunitiesand access to adequate information and NGOs interventions. These will result in an increase inthe participation of women and ultimately lead to an increase in girls’ education. The abovestatement is supported by various models adopted by the government and NGOs in variousIndian states and is explained by the author in this section. Finally, this section discussed thelinkages between local governance with the existing government programmes and schemes invarious parts of the country with a aim to increase the access of education at the grassrootslevel.34