The Maharashtra education department will begin training members of school management committees next month to clarify their powers, responsibilities and role in school development, School Education Minister Dada Bhuse said on Tuesday.
The initiative is aimed at making Maharashtra school management committees more effective in monitoring educational quality, school facilities and development-related issues. The department also plans to explain how committee members can raise problems with the relevant local administration.
Mumbai | September 8, 2026 — Bhuse said school management committees, known as SMCs, play an important role in improving students’ educational outcomes and supporting the development of schools. However, he said the performance of committees varies across the state, with some working effectively while others exist largely in name.
The proposed training will cover the powers and duties of SMC members, their role in school development, the review of students’ academic performance and issues related to school facilities. Members will also be informed about the areas they can supervise within a school and the procedure for seeking assistance when problems arise.
According to the education department’s plan, the training will help committee members understand what an SMC can do, which matters fall within its oversight and how concerns should be communicated to local authorities. The department intends to establish clearer responsibilities after members have been familiarised with their rights and functions.
The move places school management committees within the administrative chain connecting schools, communities and local government. The committees are expected to participate in discussions about school development and educational quality, while problems involving facilities or other local issues can be taken to the appropriate administration through the process explained during the training.
Bhuse said the department would also take precautions to prevent the misuse of committee powers. One proposal under consideration is to issue separate identity cards to SMC members. The identity cards are intended to establish members’ official identity while safeguards are developed around the exercise of their authority.
The minister said some committees were already doing very good work, but others needed to be strengthened before their responsibilities could be clearly fixed. The department therefore intends to begin with training and guidance, followed by a more defined understanding of committee functions.
The training is scheduled to begin next month. The education department has not disclosed in the announcement the number of members to be trained, the duration of the programme, the locations of the sessions or the specific monitoring system that will be used to assess the committees after training.
