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Study 2. The Role of the School Committee
School committees were set up in every school, both MONE and MORA, as a result of the ministerial decree of 2002 to aid decentralization. They are expected to work together in partnership with the school principal to develop school education quality using the concept of school/ community based management which is democratic, transparent and accountable.
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The head of the school committee exercises his power at school level being fully involved in planning and oversight of the school finances
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The Education Law of June 2003 (clause 56) gives a school or madrasah committee the role of improving the quality of education services through (i) advising, (ii) directing and (iii) supporting personnel, materials and facilities, as well as (iv) overseeing education.
Guidelines giving further details of these roles are still in the process of being developed. It is hoped that the findings of this study into the role of committee at the present time will become input into the public debate of those guidelines.
Just under half of school committees copied an organization structure suggested in the education decree made up of a minimum 9 members. Some other committees were much larger with about 20 members however.
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Most committees had an executive of three. A school's head was implicitly placed in the role of resource person to the committee, not being allowed to sit on their own school's committee. Instead, schools were represented by at least one of their own teachers. At the most, there were three females on a committee, although 43% of treasurers were women.
Some committees however, had no female representation. Knowledge of education, proxied by a regular job in the education field did not appear to be a prime factor for selection into the executive, nor was previous experience working with BP3. It would seem that the executive were chosen for the other skills and contacts they could provide. A majority of committee personnel had a vested interest in being on the committee of their child's school.
More or less all committee personnel were selected rather than elected, using a variety of established Indonesian processes. Some former BP3 groups were renamed as school committees and their remit extended. Many committees had the required legal documentation from the school principal while those for the more newly established committees (2003) were still being processed.
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The school committee supports the maintenance and development of the school by raising funds and by encouraging the local community to give direct assistance in the form of materials and labour.
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Formal meetings were regular but not frequent. Often they were called by the school principal to discuss planning, implementing and funding of the annual school development plan and budget (RAPBS), but they could be called by either head (of the school and committee) to discuss events related more closely to the school calendar. Programs developed in these meetings showed a tendency to focus on physical improvements to the school.
The education quality activities included in the annual program seemed on the whole not to cater for main stream teaching learning issues. Nevertheless, the positive impact of these jointly planned school development programs could be seen in many schools. Committee members enthusiastically itemized changes in their schools as a result, in the four areas of improved teaching learning, teachers and their welfare, greater community role, and better school facilitates and physical environment.
Constraints nevertheless existed. These were most noticeable in schools' attempts to fund some rather bold programs, particularly as the plan was developed first, and then the required funding had to be secured. Committees and schools were enterprising in this area, using a variety of methods to raise funds including: sales, canvassing, and eliciting donations.
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As a mediator with the local community the school committee involves parents in school activities - in this case by forming parents groups in each class.
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Only one of the four officially decreed roles of school committee - mediate between the school and its community - was considered by respondents to be a criteria for an effective committee. Even fund raising, an activity which took up much effort on the part of committees, was not thought to be a sign of an effective school committee by a majority of respondents.
Most appeared to be looking towards an ideal school committee in the future which has a broader remit than at present. Many felt that a good working environment was important along with a quality membership so that the school committee could work effectively together with the school and community to improve teaching learning quality.
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