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SMCs for improved quality of education

LODHRAN, Jul 3, 2009: OPI organized a seminar on the role of School Management Councils for improving the quality of education. The event took place in Tehsil Council, Lodhran. Mr. Maqbool Ahmad Dogar (District Officer Education) was chief guest of the session while Mr. Sajjad Akhtar Awan (District President Punjab Teachers Union) and Mr. Parvez Iqbal Ansar (Programme Officer SPO Multan) were guests of honor.

Speaking to the seminar, the chief guest said that School Management Councils (SMCs) are excellent way to maintain quality of education at government schools. He said that SMCs can utilize their funds for the development of the schools. He further told that the SMCs can get missing facilities very easily and they have sufficient funds for this purpose. He said that the accounts of SMCs are not audited to make the procedures easier than ever before.

Mr. Sajjad Akhtar Awan said that the structure of SMCs is very good however members of most SMCs are not mobilized. He told that the community does not take interest in school affairs and therefore SMCs cannot work efficiently.

Mr. Parvez Iqbal Ansari said that community participation is the best way to achieve the goal of sustainable development. He said that SMCs are providing a solution to the communities for their school-related problems. He further added that communities should be mobilized through comprehensive awareness programs to take interest in SMCs. He further said that the members of SMCs are not aware of policies and procedures and their capacity should be built.

Mr. Gulfam Mustafa, Executive Director of OPI said that OPI is designing a project to boost up the progress of School Management Councils in District Lodhran. He said that SMCs have potential to change the culture of government schools however transparency, appropriate capacity and accountability are necessary components for this.

Rao Muhammad Rafique, Mr. Muhammad Iftikhar, Hafiza Ishrat Khursheed and Hakeem Muhammad Asif also spoke to the event. A large number of citizens were participating in the seminar. The activity was co-sponsored by Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO) Multan.

Democratic Governance

Since Pakistan came into existence in 1947, its structure has been lacking a mechanism that can ensure the participation of citizens in governance related issues. The country has been ruled over by undemocratic forces for most of the time. The democratic governments also remained led by landlords, industrialists and other establishment factors who continued making policies of their own interest. As a result of these policies and poor governance, the graph of poverty and social injustice kept on rise. The international ranking of Pakistan in many governance and policy related matters is very poor. Following table shows a synopsis of some rankings.

Ranking Body	Rank *	Ranking Scale (best - worst possible)
UN Human Development Index	141	1 - 182
World Bank Rule of Law Index	19.1	100 - 0
World Bank Voice and Accountability Index	19.2	100 - 0
World Bank Political Stability Index	1.4	100 - 0
Transparency International	139	1 - 180
Foreign Policy: Failed States Index	10	177 - 1

* as on March 3, 2010

Following are objectives of OPI's Democratic Governance Program.

Mainstreaming of marginalized communities in decision making processes for the realization of basic human rights as enunciated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the Constitution of Pakistan;
Promoting the accountability of governments and multilateral organizations, and the delivery of policy promises in relation to National Development Goals, Millennium Declaration and other national/ international commitments/instruments;
Securing the rights of poor and marginalized communities and to support them in claiming their rights;
Empowering women, youth and other marginalized, poor and excluded groups of the society to participate in political and democratic processes;
To end gender-based discrimination in politics, legislations and policies and supporting the rights of women at all levels.

Opinion Poll

What is the main reason of poor governance in Pakistan?

	Insufficient funds
	Inappropriate policies
	Capacity gaps
	Lack of commitment
	Other

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