During interviews with school staff, the majority showed dissatisfaction and signs
of struggle with regards to the management of SMCs. Even the most smoothly
functioning school did not seem to be very approving of SMC. Their main complaints did
not have anything to do with the SMC itself as an accountability mechanism, but the
socio-economic context in which it was established. Government schools in India cater to
the economically marginalized population of the country. My sample schools were no
different. Almost the entire community consisted of daily-wagers who are construction
workers, plumbers, housemaids, vendors or laborers. Most have had very little or no
formal school education and are thus unable to read or write. Keeping these factors in
mind, the work involved in the supervision of school management is even a challenging
task for most parents. Even when they want to be part of their child’s education, their