Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. | Photo Credit: PTI In a move to decentralise school governance and align with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Ministry of Education has issued comprehensive new guidelines mandating the formation of School Management Committees (SMCs), and granting them financial and operational powers to oversee and govern schools. The guidelines, which supersede all previous instructions under schemes like Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan and the Right To Education Act, were launched by Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday (May 6, 2026).  They require every school across the country — including secondary institutions up to Class 12 — to constitute an SMC within one month of the start of the academic year. “The SMC will replace the existing School Management Development Committees (SMDC) to create a unified, streamlined approach to school leadership,” the guidelines said. Community-led structure The new framework emphasises that education is a “shared responsibility.” To ensure grassroots involvement, 75% of the SMC’s members must be parents or guardians and 50% must be women. The remaining 25% will include …