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members, they rarely speak out, even if they attend. Being at the bottom of the social ladder, their
interaction with the rest of society is from a position of relative powerlessness. The most
beleaguered position is that of women in poor communities who shoulder the burden of gender-
based discrimination and face the added pressure of sexual abuse and oppression.
Box 18: Tale of three VEC/SDMC
Karnataka: We came across an active SDMC in an urban area. This was in Urban 2. Members
met regularly; others, besides the members, interested in the proceedings also attend meetings.
We met with them in the school. There was energetic interaction between teachers and parents.
There were some 20 to 25 women and one man present, all of them knew what happened in the
previous meeting and what they planned to discuss today. What is their role? To support the
school, help resolve problems, they said. Since the school doesn’t have much space, they found
another place nearby for cooking the midday meal. They managed to get two additional teachers
for the school. They were able to remove the liquor shop from the vicinity of the school. They
also monitor the teacher. The potential for the SDMC as an effective body was demonstrated.
Good relationship between teachers and parents is indeed important. They feel empowered.
Parents are usually illiterate and come from an uneducated background. What can they do for the
school’’, we asked them. ‘Look, we are here,’ they said, ‘We are able to participate. It is we
parents who care for our children. We have a direct stake in their education.’ What if the SDMC
is wound up? They strongly asserted that such a body was necessary: ‘There is somebody who
can ‘ask’ (question) the teachers. And teachers are not left to themselves.’ The teachers became a
bit defensive at this unwittingly forthright statement; they said they would do their duty even if
there were no one to watch over them!
Uttar Pradesh: In village 1 the Village Education Committee (VEC) was ‘technically’ present.
But the members had been handpicked and were not clear about their roles and responsibilities.
They had neither a formal meeting nor any training. The Pradhan usually got their signatures
individually whenever he required. In Village 2, while the Pradhan had taken the initiative to
constitute the VEC but members were not clear about its role / functions.. Here he had not done
anything about the garbage dump at the entrance of the school and the illegal occupation of the
campus for a temple. The Pradhans as VEC chairpersons was basically involved in the
construction activities of the schools and not the maintenance aspect. The urban schools did not
have a PTA or any other committee.
Andhra Pradesh: The role of School Education Committees (SEC) seems to be limited. In the
tribal village the committee consists of members whose children do not go to the school. This is
in total violation of the School Committee rules. The community and the teachers feel helpless in
this situation as all the members are related to the tribal leader. Consequently, here, the committee
has not used the school improvement grant to get even blackboards! In the mixed village, the
committee meets and includes a Sangham member. They have focused on infrastructure
improvement and enrolment drives. In the urban areas the gap between the SECs and the school is
wide. We could not meet the members in the urban periphery, which, as far as the headmaster was
concerned reflected the indifference of the community towards the government school. He
complained that the SEC did not support him in any way. In the urban centre slum it is an all
woman SEC and they did not see any role for themselves in the running of the school. This was
the peg on which the Headmistress hung the issues of poor functioning of the school. What was
surprising was that the urban SECs seemed totally dysfunctional compared to the SEC in the
Educational Resource Unit Page 68 April 2003