Education, according to the Indian Constitution, is in the concurrent list, and both the State governments and the Union government are entitled to legislate on the subject. However, successive Union governments had so far left it to the states to legislate on education, especially school education.

The NDA government has been constantly encroaching on the rights of the states since 2014, especially in the fields of education and agriculture, both of which should have been best left to the states, given the country's huge diversity. Our diversities are many: language, culture, religion, climate, geography and caste, among other things.

School education is largely under the control of the Union government through institutions such as the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), and the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS).

Admission to various professional colleges and universities is controlled through NEET, CUET, IIT-JEE and similar examinations, which adversely affect the prospects of the rural poor, especially those belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Other Backwards Classes, because they do not have the money for coaching. These centralised entrance tests have not promoted merit; they have only helped the growth of the uneducational coaching industry.

The Indian Constitution guarantees education through Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties, mandating free and compulsory education for children aged 6 to 14 under Article 21A. This Article, inserted by the 86th Amendment Act, 2002, makes free and compulsory education a fundamental right for children aged 6 to 14.

Article 29 protects the interests of minorities by ensuring that any section with a distinct language, script, or culture has the right to conserve it. Article 30 grants all minorities based on religion or language the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. Clause 2 of the Article adds that the State shall not discriminate in granting aid to educational institutions on the ground that they are under the management of a minority, whether on religious or linguistic grounds.

Articles 15 and 16 prohibit discrimination in educational institutions and guarantee equality of opportunity in educational access. Article 45 mandates that the State endeavour to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years. Article 350A directs states to provide facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage.

Nowhere in the Constitution is there any provision for setting up School Management Committees. In India, there are two types of schools: government and private. Most government schools are administered by State Education Departments. The Union Government does not directly administer most schools. However, the Central Board of Secondary Education recognises schools that follow its syllabus. They are mostly private schools administered by a variety of organisations and individuals. There are schools administered by Trusts, Societies, Corporates, Religious Congregations of Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and others.

The guidelines issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy under the Ministry of Education seek to "strengthen community participation and decentralised school governance." One wonders under what law the Ministry of Education or the Union Government derives its power to replace present school managements with School Management Committees.

Under the guidelines, every school must constitute an SMC within one month of the start of the academic session, replacing the existing School Management and Development Committees. The size of these committees will vary depending on student strength, consisting of 12 to 25 members. Seventy-five per cent of the members of the SMC must be parents or guardians of students, and the remaining 25 per cent will be drawn from local authorities, teachers, educationists, alumni, and frontline health workers such as ASHA and Anganwadi workers.

There is no clarity on who will enforce the guidelines or under what law. No private school management in the country, whether majority or minority, will willingly surrender its right to manage the institutions it has established. It will only lead to school managements approaching courts to enforce their right to administer the institutions they have established.

The guidelines mandate that the Chairperson and the Vice Chairperson must be elected from among the parent or guardian members, while the school principal serves only as the Member Secretary. Monthly meetings are compulsory with strict quorum requirements and public disclosure of minutes.

The guidelines provide for subcommittees, including a School Building Committee, tasked with overseeing infrastructure, safety, learning outcomes, attendance, and counselling. The SMCs are entrusted with wide-ranging responsibilities, from ensuring enrolment, monitoring the mid-day meal programme, promoting hygiene and digital learning, tracking dropouts and building sports infrastructure.

Further, 50 per cent of the members must be women, and representation from SC, ST, and OBC communities should also be ensured. While, in principle, the new guidelines look very attractive on paper, they will not be enforceable on the ground. At best, these guidelines are delusional!