Enhancing School Management Outcomes: Community Ownership and Social accountability

Enhancing School Management Outcomes: Community Ownership and Social Accountability presents the findings of an 18-month action research project undertaken by the Public Affairs Centre (PAC) for Samagra Shikshana Karnataka to strengthen school governance through greater community participation and social accountability. Conducted across 170 government schools in 17 educational districts of Karnataka, the study evaluates the functioning of School Development and Monitoring Committees (SDMCs) using a mixed-methods approach that combines Citizen Report Cards (CRC), Community Score Cards (CSC), focus group discussions, key informant interviews, case studies, and grievance redress analysis. Built around the Three-A Framework- Awareness, Advocacy, and Action, the project examines how community agency, participation, and effective grievance redress influence school management outcomes. The report finds that while SDMCs remain the most effective institutional mechanism for decentralised school governance, their performance is constrained by low awareness, inadequate training, weak grievance redress systems, poor community ownership, and limited financial and administrative support. Based on quantitative and qualitative evidence, it recommends strengthening SDMC member selection, revising operational guidelines, implementing structured capacity-building programmes, enhancing grievance redress mechanisms, devolving greater funds and functions to local institutions, leveraging data analytics for evidence-based decision-making, and institutionalising community ownership as the foundation for improving school management, accountability, and learning outcomes across Karnataka.