One major change in the new CBSE Affiliation Byelaws 2018 is in the composition and role of the School Management Committee.
In the earlier byelaws, it was mandatory to form a school management committee for all non-government schools only. The requirement was as per the CBSE byelaws only and the defined powers and functions of the school management committee was quite vague.
In the revised byelaws released in 2018, CBSE makes in mandatory for all schools to have a School Management Committee, as per RTE Act 2009 or as per regulations framed by the State / Central Government. The following major changes are seen in the composition of the School Management Committee (SMC), defined in Chapter 8 of the new byelaws:
Composition of the School Management Committee
a. At least 9 mandatory members of the SMC are clearly defined in Chapter 8 of the 2018 byelaws. The remaining members (upto 15 in total for aided schools and 21 for unaided private schools) may be nominated as per conditions of the State Government’s No Objection Certificate or nominated / elected as per regulations of the Society/Trust/Company running the school.
b. 50% of the total members of the SMC should be women.
c. The CBSE Board shall nominate 2 of the members in the School Management Committee – this is a big surprise and the mechanism of how CBSE plans to do so for for 20,783 schools that are currently affiliated is not described.
d. In addition to the 2 members nominated by CBSE, the Head of the School, 2 parents, 2 teachers and 2 nominees of the Society/Trust/Company (ex-teachers of school or college, one shall be a women) form the minimum required 9 members of the SMC.
e. Existing CBSE affiliated schools are given a time period of 1 year from 18 Oct 2018 to implement these changes.
Other conditions, such as term of the members being 3 years etc remain the same. For the first time, both CBSE and the State Government now have a role to play in the School Management Committee.
Powers and Functions of the School Management Committee
Some powers that the SMC committee had in the earlier byelaws, such as the power to take disciplinary action against staff or to sanction leave to the Head of the School have been removed from the new list in the new byelaws. This is a positive change, the new byelaws also clearly defines the objective of the SMC.
Amongst the major changes in the function of the School Management Committee is that the appointment of teachers and non-teaching staff needs to be approved by the SMC. The role of the SMC is to “guide” the Principal in the management of the school and to supervise the activities of the school for its smooth functioning – which gives the SMC a lot of authority on what the school does and how it operates.
The other major change is that the SMC will now “approve“ any changes in the fee structure and the fee cannot be changed without it’s explicit approval. Earlier, the SMC could only propose the changes to the Society/Trust/Company but the decision was not in its powers. Another overriding condition is that the Acts and Regulations of the State Government will prevail upon the School Management Committee – which indirectly allows State Governments to instruct SMC’s to limit fee increases, if it so wishes.
The entire para 8.4 and 8.5 of chapter 8, defining the Powers and Functions of the School Management Committee is reproduced below, for those interested in understanding it in detail. While we believe a lot of clarity on the role of the SMC has emerged, it remains to be seen if the impact will be positive on schools, or not.
8.4 Powers and Functions of the School Management Committee
Subject to overall control of the Society/Trust/ Company the duties, powers and responsibilities of the School Management Committee shall include but not limited to the following:
8.4.1 It shall supervise the activities of the school for its smooth functioning
8.4.2 It will work according to the specific directions given by the Society/Trust/Company regarding admission pokey. However, it shall ensure that admissions are made as per merit without discretion of gender, disability, religion, race, caste, creed and place of birth etc strictly as per state policy.
8.4.3 It shall look into the welfare of the teachers and employees of the school.
8.4.4 It shall evolve both short-term and long-term plans for the approvement of the school.
8.4.5 It shall make appointment of teachers and non teaching staff
8.4.6 It shall exercise financial powers beyond those delegated to the Prinapal within the budgetary provisions of the school.
8.4.7 It shall take stock of academic programmes and progress of the school without jeopardizing the academic freedom of Principal
8.4.8 It shall guide the Principal in school management.
8.4.9 It shall ensure that the norms given in the Acts/Rules of the StateUT and of the CBSE regarding terms and conditions of service and other rules governing recognition/Affiliation of the school are stnetty adhered to.
8.4.10 It shall ensure that no financial irregularity is committed and no irregular procedure with regard to admission/examinatons is adopted
8.4.11 It shall approve the rates of Fees and other charges subject to the conditions laid down in Chapter-7.
8.4.12 It shall review the budget of the school presented by the Principal and forward the same to Society/Trust/Company for approval
8.4.13 It shall ensure the safety and security of children and staff of the school and give directions for improvement
8.4.14 It shall look in to grievances of the teachers and staff n connection with their service conditions and pay etc. and dispose such grievances m accordance with applicable rules
8.4.15 The School Management Committee will meet at least twice in an academic session.
8.5 The provisions contained in Acts and Regulations of the Appropriate Government will prevail upon the provisions related to School Management Committee in these byelaws.
