Improving School Education in India - The School Board

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Various schools of India from primary to high school are of two types. First are government or state run schools and the second type are schools run by private parties that include individuals, societies, trusts or companies. Problems exist in both type of schools that compromise quality of education in the country and the quality of life of citizens. Here we shall consider the most important problems that face both type of schools and propose a simple solution that will help to improve the situation considerably.

The main problem in state run schools is the quality of education and governance within schools. The major problem with private schools is their greed and ever increasing fees and expenses imposed on hapless parents. Some severe tragedies have taken place in private schools that even include severe beating, rape and murder of little children. Clearly existing mechanisms are insufficient to deal with both issues.

Here a solution is provided that is common for both types of schools. It is the constitution of a school board as the highest authority of every school in the country at the local level and not the principal or the owner in case of a private school.  Any decision of such a school board would be held as invalid if it contradicts any city, state or national regulation or law and the latter shall supersede. Thereby such a board shall not come into conflict with any existing or new government administration but supplement it at no significant cost to the government

However, the decision of the board of governors shall be regarded as supreme over the decision of the school principal or owner if a school is a private one and shall prevail. In order that the board may enforce its power and instructions, it may be granted powers to recommend termination or suspension of any teacher, employee or student of the school as well as impose fines on any school teacher or employee (but not students because they are not earning members of society, parents pay). An insidious greedy practice has developed in private education to fine students whereas they can be punished in other ways, suspension or even expulsion. Further the board shall control 75% of finances with 25% handed to owners for loans or corpus 

The constitution of the board may be a simple one for ease of implementation. Here is the first attempt for a five member board similar to a panchayat:

  1. A retired army officer of the area less than seventy years old. The school may advertise for the position and then select one based on criterion of how close the officer lives and how senior he is
  2. A mother of a student. This too may be advertised and the criterion for selection shall be the most educated and senior mother with seniority measured as years since graduation. Such a mother may be located from a database and then selected by a computer with a random selection in from equals ( equal qualification and seniority) If a mother declines then the next available person may be appointed
  3. A retired school teacher or professor of the area less than seventy years old selected on basis of seniority through advertisement
  4. The School Principal
  5. The School vice principal in case of government schools or the owner or nominee of owner in case of a private one
The present board is only a suggestion and the implementing authority may modify it to a larger board, perhaps including more than one parent member and more than one owner member in private schools after due deliberation.Boards larger than five shall improve quorum for meetings but larger than eleven shall be unwieldy and increase expense.

CAUTION: The constitution of the board must not be in hands of the owner of school but an independent agency or the owner shall merely appoint compliant persons.

Such school boards that include retired army officers have been used to great effect in other countries including England in the past. They bring a sense of discipline and order to a school so necessary for good education.

The Board shall meet every Saturday on school premises between 10 and 12 am if not a national holiday or school vacation period. It may meet more often if so desired and invite any other person to a meeting if needed. To streamline its function it shall choose a Chairman by a majority vote and change if required through a constructive vote of replacement at any time. However, all decisions of the board shall be by a majority vote. Board members once appointed cannot be changed during an academic year but may be changed by other members at the end of an academic year or if they have served for three years on the board (maximum tenure) or incase a vacancy arises from resignation etc.

Board members shall receive compensation, not exceeding five days in a month, and the daily compensation shall be equal to one day’s salary of the principal. Such compensation will help pay for a member’s time or travel to a meeting and be an incentive to join a board..

Note: In far flung rural areas it may become difficult to find board members as suggested here therefore for such areas instead of army officers JCOs and NCOs may also be considered and for parent member either father or mother may be chosen.


Conclusion

When such boards are constituted with supreme powers over the school, greater than the owner and principal of the school, much that goes wrong with school education shall be controlled.

Owners of private schools will no doubt complain when such a board refuses or reverses a fee hike or suspends their favorite relative employee but such a check is needed to improve lives of children. Education after all is an activity of service, a service that involves the well being of children and thereby the future of the nation. Those who wish to accumulate wealth through business should look for other avenues.

Over time, government education departments may consider delegating more or less autonomy or powers to such boards from time to time as felt appropriate aside from the minimum necessary ones as mentioned in this note.

UPDATE September 2017

Recently some tragic incidents have happened in some schools in India that include severe beating, rape and murder of little children mainly in private schools. An immediate solution is to place the school under the supervision of a school board as described in this note since the existing management has proved incompetent. It shall also give the authorities a chance to observe and improve the board system before applying it more widely across the nation.

Note: If a government feels unsure of this proposal they can begin it as a pilot project in a few schools first.




Comments

Ashok said…
Usually control of finances ARE is an issue. A simple rule is to transfer 25% income to founding body for loan repayments and corpus while using 75% to be controlled by board.
September 15, 2017 at 8:19 PM
Ashok said…
After recent tragedy the focus of authorities has been on issuing guidelines but the method suggested in this note will help matters far more.
September 18, 2017 at 8:16 PM
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