The School Management Committee of the majority of schools in the Santhal Parganna Division is inoperative and mere symbolic in function. The members are unaware of their roles and responsibilities in ensuring good school governance.

This is a case study of a village – Madhudinda in the Saraiyahat block of the project area. The school is situated at the outer area of the village. The total number of children enrolled are 214 but only 30-40 children are present. The majority of the community members are aware of education in shaping their children’s lives. This village has a feudal system where the positions of different CBOs are held by a particular group, hence the policy decisions are influenced.

We outlined a strategy with our core team of the project to handle this sensitive issue. Our role as a catalyst help us to engage with the negative stakeholders and work in coordination with the positive stakeholders. As per the capacity building programme of VEC, the project team ensured that it would be translated into action for the benefit of the children. The VEC members expressed that formal education was very important for the village children.

For further positive outcome the VEC members were assembled on a single platform and regular fortnight meetings were conducted. These meetings were held to enhance their awareness, increase participation of women and make them realize their responsibility towards the community. The attendance has increased by 70% due to regular home visits and counseling the parents of irregular children. The enrollment of girls has increased and teachers are regular to school imparting education. Monitoring and assessment is done by the VEC. The link has been developed by the VEC between Community and schools and it needs to be built stronger for the greater interest of the children.