The concept of citizen participation at the school level in Pakistan can be traced back to the country’s first development plan, the First Five Year Plan (1955–60). The plan considered the establishment of local school management committees and district advisory boards. Committee members were expected to elect representatives to the district advisory boards. These boards were assigned responsibilities such as providing school buildings, coordinating with area education officers regarding teacher recruitment, supporting school development programmes, and monitoring the supply of school materials.

Despite these proposals, the concept of school committees envisioned in the First Five Year Plan did not materialise in practice. The plan did not clearly define the selection procedures for school management committees. Furthermore, democratic governance structures were relatively new to society at the time. The selection of district advisory boards also became a largely political process. As a result, the proposed governance structure failed to take practical form.

In 1959, the Commission on National Education expressed dissatisfaction with the public’s attitude towards civic responsibilities and government institutions. The commission emphasised the need for citizens to understand the role of government and their relationship with it. It strongly recommended the involvement of local communities in primary education. However, the responsibilities assigned to the community were limited to opening schools, maintaining them, and ensuring their operation.

To achieve national literacy targets, the policy also proposed several additional measures. These included encouraging school children to teach their parents, engaging undergraduate college students as adult literacy teachers, and promoting the “Each One Teach One” approach, whereby a literate individual would teach an illiterate person (Bengali, 1994:4).

Nevertheless, these proposals were largely unrealistic and insufficiently motivating for community participation. For instance, opening and closing schools on time was typically the responsibility of school support staff, while school maintenance required financial resources and administrative authority. Similarly, the expectation that school children would educate their parents was impractical. However, the proposal to involve undergraduate students as adult literacy teachers was a relatively promising initiative for improving literacy rates. Even so, the policy failed to provide incentives to motivate students to participate in such programmes.

Subsequent policy documents—including the Second and Third Five Year Plans (1960–65; 1965–70), the New Education Policy (1970), the Education Policy (1972–80), and the Fourth Five Year Plan (1978–83)—did not include a clear policy agenda for community involvement in school governance or management. However, the National Education Policy (1979) acknowledged that achieving universal primary enrolment would require the effective mobilisation of community resources and participation. The policy suggested mobilising graduate and postgraduate students as volunteers to support literacy initiatives. Despite these intentions, the proposed measures were not effectively implemented.

Similarly, the Sixth Five Year Plan (1983–88) did not explicitly discuss the role of communities in educational development. However, elements of community participation appeared in the National Literacy Plan (1984–86) through initiatives such as the Razakar Muallim (volunteer teacher) project, Mosque Literacy Centres, the Students’ Literacy Drive, and NGO-supported literacy programmes. The plan aimed to increase the national literacy rate from 26.2% to 33%.

Under the Razakar Muallim initiative, individuals with at least a secondary school certificate were recruited as volunteer teachers and provided with a monthly stipend of Rs. 250 to teach groups of approximately 20 learners. Mosque imams were also offered a similar stipend for teaching Arabic and Urdu literacy courses. In addition, established non-governmental organisations (NGOs) received financial support to assist in expanding literacy programmes. Although the plan represented a significant attempt to mobilise community resources, it failed to achieve its objectives due to inadequate supervision, weak monitoring mechanisms, limited accountability, and insufficient operational planning (Bengali, 1999).

The Seventh Five Year Plan (1988–93) and the National Education Policy (1992) again made little reference to community participation in educational development. Consequently, between 1947 and 1992, the role of community participation in the education sector remained largely confined to assisting government efforts to increase literacy rates.

A significant shift occurred with the Eighth Five Year Plan (1993–98), which emphasised the involvement of local communities in reducing school dropout rates and improving the efficiency of the education system through enhanced monitoring. For the first time, the policy proposed that local communities should participate in the monitoring and supervision of schools. Prior to this, community involvement had been limited mainly to supporting literacy campaigns.

This shift was influenced in part by international donor agencies, which encouraged aid-receiving countries to adopt decentralised governance structures and promote community participation in school management. In 1998, Pakistan discontinued the Five Year Planning framework and replaced it with policy-based planning approaches.

The National Education Policy (1998–2010) explicitly recognised the importance of local community participation in school supervision and governance. The policy proposed the establishment of Village Education Committees and Parent–Teacher Associations (Ahsan, 2003) to strengthen community engagement in educational administration.

The National Education Policy (2009) further emphasised community participation as a mechanism for addressing implementation gaps in the education sector. The policy recognised that a culture of ownership among stakeholders at all levels is essential for effective policy implementation. However, in practice, many stakeholders in Pakistan remain excluded from the policymaking and implementation processes.

Community participation in decision-making at the school level remains limited. School Management Committees (SMCs) and Parent–Teacher Associations (PTAs) are often influenced by local politicians or powerful individuals, particularly feudal elites in rural areas. Such influence discourages these bodies from actively participating in school governance.

Additionally, head teachers often lack the training necessary to effectively engage with SMCs and PTAs. Many school administrators are also reluctant to utilise allocated school funds due to concerns about strict auditing procedures. Consequently, a significant portion of school funds remains unspent, creating a major barrier to effective policy implementation at the school level. Furthermore, street-level bureaucrats, including head teachers, frequently dominate decision-making within local school committees.

For meaningful educational development in Pakistan, it is essential to strengthen school councils and encourage the mobilisation of local resources. Empowering community-based governance structures can improve accountability, enhance monitoring mechanisms, and support more effective implementation of education policies at the local level.

References

Ahsan, M. (2003). An Analytical Review of Pakistan’s Education Policies and Plans. Research Papers in Education, 18(3), 259–280.

Bengali, K. (1999). History of Educational Policy Making and Planning in Pakistan. Islamabad: Sustainable Development Policy Institute.

First Five Year Plan 1955–60. Planning Commission of Pakistan, Government of Pakistan.

Second Five Year Plan 1960–65. Planning Commission of Pakistan, Government of Pakistan.

Third Five Year Plan 1965–70. Planning Commission of Pakistan, Government of Pakistan.

New Education Policy (1970). Federal Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan.

National Education Policy (1972–80). Federal Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan.

Fifth Five Year Plan 1977–83, Vol. 1. Planning Commission of Pakistan, Government of Pakistan.

Fifth Five Year Plan 1978–83, Vol. 2. Planning Commission of Pakistan, Government of Pakistan.

National Education Policy (1979). Federal Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan.

Government of Pakistan. (1984–86). National Literacy Programme (PC-1). Literacy and Mass Education Commission.

Sixth Five Year Plan 1983–88. Planning Commission of Pakistan, Government of Pakistan.

National Literacy Plan 1984–86. Federal Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan.

Seventh Five Year Plan 1988–93. Planning Commission of Pakistan, Government of Pakistan.

National Education Policy (1992). Federal Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan.

Eighth Five Year Plan 1993–98. Planning Commission of Pakistan, Government of Pakistan.

National Education Policy (1998–2010). Federal Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan.

National Education Policy (2009). Federal Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan.