Gram panchayat will have power to set up school management committee

As the Right To Education comes into force from April one, the government today said gram panchayats will have the power to set up school management committees, with 50% of its members being women, to ensure the right is enforced.
   
"Panchayats will have the responsibility of managing the schools and ensuring the right to free and compulsory education is implemented," said HRD minister Kapil Sibal at the India Today Conclave here.
   
Every school will have a managing committee which will frame the broad policy for the school. While 75% of the members in the managing committee will be from the locality, 50% of them will be women.
   
"The women members will play a vital role. They will ensure that children come to school and proper teaching is done," he said.
   
To a question on exam system, he said, "the fate of a student should not be decided by just one exam".
   
Sibal floated an idea of continuously holding exams in the academic year to help students assess their knowledge and improve themselves.
   
To encourage the private sector and charitable organisations to be involved in education in a big way, Sibal advocated provision of incentives for them.