The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Panel: no need to abolish SDMCs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Panel: no need to abolish SDMCs

Special Correspondent

House Committee favours amendments to SDMC norms

BANGALORE: The Legislative Council House Committee, which has been constituted to study the functioning of the School Development Monitoring Committees (SDMCs) in the State, has decided to recommend to the Government that these committees should not be abolished.

House Committee chairman and MLC L. Hanumanthaiah told a press conference in Bangalore on Monday that instead of abolishing these panels, the SDMC norms should be amended to provide for 50 per cent reservation to women in these nine-member panels so that the concerns of woman teachers could be addressed. The House committee is also of the view that the amendments should provide for adequate security to women teachers to prevent any sexual harassment by SDMC members.

The House committee, which is in the final stages of consultations in this regard would submit its report to Legislative Council Chairman B.K. Chandrashekar, in about a month.

The suicide of Prema, a teacher in Gadag district, following alleged harassment by a SDMC member and also complaints of harassment to women teachers by SDMC members in several other areas of the State had triggered a debate on whether these panels should be abolished. The Legislative Council had constituted the above House Committee to study the issue and suggest appropriate measures.

Mr. Hanumanthaiah, who held a day-long interaction meeting with representatives of teachers, SDMC members, officials and NGOs on Monday, said the committee also intended to suggest to the Government to ensure that the authority to grant leave to headmistress rested with women members of the SDMCs. There were also suggestions for providing uniforms to teachers.

He explained that while teachers were for scrapping of SDMCs, other participants were for continuing these panels and also making some modifications in the norms to prevent harassment to women teachers.

The Education Department officials had told the House committee that the teachers' punctuality had improved after the SDMCs had been formed. Similarly, the attendance of students had also increased in some of the schools due to the efforts by the SDMC members.

The construction quality of school buildings had improved after the SDMCs were entrusted with the task of monitoring construction works. The UNESCO had also hailed the initiative of the concept of SDMCs, which is implemented in Karnataka for the first time in the country, Mr. Hanumanthaiah explained.

At the same time, teachers had complained that they were being harassed by SDMC members and there were instances of misappropriation of funds meant for construction works by the SDMC members.

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