ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the role of local government in the improvement of school education. Governance and management related issues are usually associated with poor educational outputs in terms of low enrolment and retention. Decentralisation is presented as a promising policy option to overcome these problems and thereby improve educational outputs. Decentralisation reforms have been therefore carried out for improving local governance for better educational outcomes. School Development and Monitoring Committees (SDMCs) have been constituted to promote people’s participation in the school development. After examining the functioning of SDMCs in Karnataka with the help of primary data collected from member and non-member households across three different types of SDMCs, this chapter identifies the conditions under which SDMCs contribute to improved educational outputs.
