In bid to decentralise school governance, Centre mandates, empowers local committees

What Happened

• The Union Ministry of Education has launched revised School Management Committee (SMC) Guidelines 2026, extending the SMC mandate — previously applicable only to elementary schools — to secondary schools as well, in a significant move to decentralise school governance.
• Under the new norms, at least 75% of SMC members must be parents or guardians of enrolled students, and at least 50% of members must be women, reinforcing the gender and community participation provisions already present in the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009.
• SMCs have been empowered to execute all school civil works costing up to ₹30 lakh (up from the earlier ₹10 lakh limit), making them directly responsible for school infrastructure decisions at the community level.
• SMCs will also be mandated to review school budgets and monitor the PM-POSHAN (formerly Mid-Day Meal) scheme at the school level, strengthening bottom-up accountability.
• The guidelines are aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020's emphasis on decentralised governance, community ownership of schools, and outcome-based accountability.

Static Topic Bridges

School Management Committees (SMCs) Under the RTE Act, 2009

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act) is the legislative framework that operationalised Article 21A of the Constitution, which was inserted by the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002 to make free and compulsory education a Fundamental Right for children aged 6–14 years. Section 21 of the RTE Act mandates the constitution of a School Management Committee (SMC) in every government and government-aided school. SMCs are grassroots bodies designed to ensure community participation, transparency, and accountability in school functioning. Under the original Section 21 mandate: at least three-fourths (75%) of members must be parents/guardians; proportionate representation must be given to parents from disadvantaged groups and weaker sections; 50% of members must be women. SMCs are required to prepare school development plans and monitor school functioning including mid-day meals.

Decentralisation of Education Governance and NEP 2020

The National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020), approved by the Union Cabinet in July 2020, is the first comprehensive revision of India's education framework since the National Policy on Education 1986. NEP 2020 emphasises decentralisation of school governance through strengthened SMCs and School Complex Management Committees (SCMCs), community ownership, and transparent school-level resource management. NEP 2020 recommends establishing School Complexes — each comprising one secondary school and all feeder elementary schools within a radius of 5–10 km — governed by SCMCs with community representation. The policy stresses that school governance must shift from bureaucratic input-monitoring to outcome-oriented community accountability.

PM-POSHAN Scheme (Mid-Day Meal Programme)

PM-POSHAN (Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman) is the renamed and restructured version of the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education, commonly known as the Mid-Day Meal Scheme — one of the world's largest school nutrition programmes. The programme was launched in 1995 and made statutory under the RTE Act, 2009. It was restructured and rebranded as PM-POSHAN in September 2021. The scheme provides one hot cooked meal per school day to students in government and government-aided schools from pre-primary (Balvatika) through Class 8. It aims to improve enrolment, attendance, and retention while addressing classroom hunger. The scheme is centrally sponsored, with cost-sharing between the Centre and states; implementation monitored at the school level by SMCs under the RTE framework.

Constitutional Framework: Article 21A and the 86th Amendment

Article 21A of the Indian Constitution, inserted by the Constitution (86th Amendment) Act, 2002, provides that "the State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine." This made elementary education a Fundamental Right (Part III) rather than merely a Directive Principle of State Policy (Article 45, Part IV). The 86th Amendment simultaneously amended Article 45 (DPSP) to make early childhood care and education for children below 6 years a state obligation, and amended Article 51A to add a Fundamental Duty (Article 51A(k)) on parents to provide educational opportunities to their children aged 6–14. The RTE Act, 2009 was enacted to give effect to Article 21A.

Key Facts & Data

• RTE Act, 2009: mandates SMCs under Section 21; covers elementary education (Classes 1–8)
• 86th Constitutional Amendment, 2002: inserted Article 21A — Right to Education as Fundamental Right
• New SMC guidelines (2026): extend mandate to secondary schools (Classes 9–10 and beyond)
• SMC composition: ≥75% parents/guardians; ≥50% women; proportionate representation for disadvantaged groups
• Financial empowerment: SMCs can now execute civil works up to ₹30 lakh (raised from ₹10 lakh)
• New mandates: review school budgets; monitor PM-POSHAN scheme
• PM-POSHAN: covers ~11.8 crore children in ~11 lakh schools; rebranded September 2021
• NEP 2020: approved July 2020; calls for decentralised governance via strengthened SMCs and SCMCs
• School Complex model (NEP 2020): secondary school + feeder schools within 5–10 km radius
• Union Education Minister launched the guidelines in 2026, framing them as a democratisation of school governance
• India has approximately 14.9 lakh government schools; effective SMC functioning is critical to school improvement at scale