Delhi Govt. Schools to introduce 'School Mitras' initiative to bring parents closer to management panels

According to the reports, the government took this initiative following observations made in a recently released report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) that states 63 per cent of parents do not know about the existence of SMCs.

Delhi government schools are mulling to introduce ‘School Mitras’ concept to bring the management and parent closer. Parents who will volunteer for the initiative will be called 'school mitras' and will help in bridging the gap between School Management Committees (SMCs) and parents. According to the reports, the government took this initiative following observations made in a recently released report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) that despite the active involvement of the SMCs in the schools, 63 per cent of parents of the students going to government schools in Delhi do not know about the existence of SMCs.

According to Times Now report, Zareen Taj, Additional Director, Directorate of Education (DoE), said, "This is an uncomfortable sign since SMCs are meant to act as a bridge between parents and the schools, a means by which various concerns of the parents can reach the school management. However, this gap seems to exist because there is no structure or mechanism by which SMC members can reach out to the parents on an ongoing basis.”

Taj further talked about the importance of having a Zonal Monitoring Committee for the 'Parents Outreach Programme' "SMCs have played an important role in the transformation of Delhi government schools. They have been involved in many activities from ensuring schools' cleanliness, reaching out to students who could not regularly attend school, helping organise summer camps, reading melas, etc. SMCs have done a lot of work at the school level and are continuing the good work," Taj said.

There will be five people in a zonal-level committee, including two teacher conveners, two SMC members and one nodal officer. "The committee will monitor the progress of the parents' outreach programme in the respective zone. The panel will take regular feedback from the teacher convener of the respective school and coordinate with the head of the school for any issue or clarity about the outreach programme from time to time, when needed," Taj added.

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