We created this innovation because we saw the need for participatory governance in Indian public schools.
This is critical because 87% of the population (~124 million children) living on just $2–$9 a day (Pew, 2021) depend on ~1 million public schools. Yet, these systems are often opaque, centralized & undemocratic. Decision-making is concentrated, leaving parents & communities, those most affected by education quality excluded from shaping it. While structures like School Management Committees (SMCs, mandated by Indian law with 75% parental representation responsible for school-community linkage) & Parent-Teacher Meetings (PTMs) exist in policy, their quality & frequency remain inadequate.
This weakens accountability & reduces community trust. Our findings (Punjab, 2023) reflects this: <10% of schools conduct PTMs regularly, SMC meeting attendance is often <40%. When parents are unable to engage, schools miss critical feedback loops that influence the quality of education being delivered. This is reflected in poor learning outcomes: >50% of students in government schools are below minimum proficiency levels in foundational reading & arithmetic (ASER 2024, national survey)
Each additional year of effective schooling increases wages by 8–10% (World Bank Report). But when learning is weak, schooling fails to translate into mobility. Without urgent action to make school governance participatory, India risks leaving an entire generation behind
In practice, our innovation strengthens parent & student voice via stronger SMCs (school governing board) & PTMs. We do this by co-designing & implementing initiatives with regional education departments. For instance, we led the design & delivery of the training of district officials who would in turn train SMCs. By embedding our approach within government systems, we’re able to achieve scale while ensuring sustainability.
Our solution is implemented through a cyclical 4-I approach:
Identify: Diagnose existing behaviors, systems & pain points in the govt
Initiate: Design improved processes, roles, agenda & communication tools with & for the govt
Improve: Use data, feedback & reflection loops to refine & strengthen solutions.
Institutionalize: Embed learnings into system through government circulars, job descriptions & routine practices for sustainability.
Our Activities:
Co-Creation of Resources & Frameworks: We develop comprehensive resources & frameworks that provide actionable steps for school officials, teachers & parents, helping implement participatory governance practices effectively.
Capacity Building: We provide targeted training programs for school leaders, administrators, education officials, parents & SMC members. This improves their capacity to ensure SMCs & PTMs function inclusively & effectively
Amplifying & Celebrating Champions: We identify & celebrate local champions:parents, teachers & officials who exemplify best practices in participatory governance
Over the past 2-3 years, our solution has spread by embedding participatory practices within education systems in Punjab & Nagaland. These milestones reflect a shift to system-led adoption.
Punjab
-The state has conducted 8 parent & community focussed initiatives over the past year, including the 1st ever statewide SMC training reaching ~275k members
-Conducted statewide Mega PTMs, ensuring dignified spaces in which parents & students feel welcomed & heard.
-Over the past 5 years, we have seen a 7% increase in enrollment rate & >10% increase in exam results
Nagaland
-Co-led the design & delivery of USD 12 million in Performance Incentive Grants directly to SMCs, to incentivise community participation. SMC members reporting that action was taken on identified issues increased from 29% to 79% (2022-2025) & awareness of SMC responsibilities among members increased from 7% to 34% (2022-2025).
-Co-led the first large-scale, system-aligned effort to strengthen SMCs, training 5,000+ SMC members across 1,900+ schools in 16 districts
Our innovation has been recognized by the US-based Don Norman Design Award in 2025 for embedding humanity-centred design principles
Over the next 2–3 years, we aim to
-Reach 80,000+ public schools through 2 new state government partnerships
-Partner with 100 NGOs to integrate participatory school governance into their programs
-Leverage tech in our solution to conduct asynchronous regular capacity building, reaching 200k parent SMC members
We have modified our innovation in these ways:
-Integrating technology for scale & continuity
We’ve begun embedding tech into our approach through an SMC-focused chatbot, which delivers simplified resources & regular nudges to members. This creates an asynchronous, replicable, continuous mode of capacity building enabling SMC members to engage beyond one-time trainings.
-Launching a partner program
We’ve initiated partnerships with education NGOs to integrate participatory governance into their programs, leveraging local relationships & their existing knowledge. We build their capacity to engage with parents & communities. Drawing from our experience with state education departments, this aims to deepen sector-wide adoption & improve sustainability by embedding participation within existing interventions.
-Using storytelling & media for community-led capacity building
We’ve developed a short film in Nagaland as a training tool & are conducting community screenings followed by reflection spaces. This approach uses relatable, locally rooted stories to spark discussion & shift mindsets, reinforcing the idea that parents deeply care about their children’s education & can play an active role in school governance.
-New initiatives to engage larger parent body
Introduced structured Parent Workshops in Punjab alongside Mega PTMs to deepen engagement beyond academics, building awareness of parents’ role & clarifying shared responsibilities between schools & families.
Those interested in adopting our solution can go through
-Our website: www.samarthya.co
-Our case study on participatory governance, based on a story of change from Punjab: https://samarthya.co/case-study/
-A story book, capturing the need and impact of participation in a humanized way through a heartfelt story of a boy: https://shorturl.at/9On8B
Reading up on Arnstein’s Ladder of Citizen participation and NHS’ Theory of large scale change (https://shorturl.at/o18Vg) can be beneficial, since our work borrows elements from it. You can write to us at contact@samarthya.co. We can share resources (such as handbooks, booklets related to SMCs) & help you brainstorm to apply them contextually.
