Picture for represntational purpose(File Photo)
Harvard University is set to conduct a two-year research project into the functioning of school management committees (SMCs) in Delhi’s schools to chart the impact that the presence of parents has on educational accountability, officials said. The government has given permission to the Harvard Graduate School of Education to conduct the research after an application was received from Emmerich Davies, assistant professor of Education at Harvard University. Among Davies’s specialisations are education policy and politics.
Atishi Marlena, advisor to the education minister, said, “He (Davies) had heard about the work being done by the Delhi government and met us six months ago. He expressed interest in doing work on how parent participation aids education.”
Since the AAP came to power, Education Minister Manish Sisodia has repeatedly stressed on work in education. Also, for the first time in the capital’s history, elections took place in 1,100 government and government-aided schools to select members to the SMCs.
Officials said a research team has been formed to track the role played by SMCs. “The tenure of the SMCs is coming to an end. The project will also look at the election process of the SMCs… The Delhi government is neither paying for the research nor has it sanctioned it,” an official said.
