Schools Social Audit by Samagar Siksha Step by Step Comprehensive Guidelines & Check List

Schools Social Audit Check List Samagar Siksha Social Audit Observation Points. Guidelines for Social Audit of Samagra Shiksha

Social Audit means the process in which people collectively monitor and evaluate the planning and implementation of a program or scheme. Social audit is a democratic process that ensures public accountability of agencies through a systemic demand of information by the community in response lo the programs that have already been implemented by the government or other agencies for a particular area/community. 

Schools Social Audit by Samagar Siksha Step by Step Comprehensive Guidelines & Check List

Social audit is not only an audit of expenditure or decisions but also covers the issue of equity and equality in program implementation. The people and the government jointly monitor the scheme in a social audit

The basic objective of Social Audit is to enhance public accountability in Samagra Shiksha implementation. The process combines people's participation and monitoring with the requirements of the audit discipline. It is a fact-finding process, not a fault­ finding process

• These Samagra Siksha Social Audit guidelines are to be followed at every level and the process for preparatory or pre­ audit phase may be started as soon as the launch of the guidelines for Social Audit of Samagra Shiksha scheme.
• The audit phase which requires visits to schools and interaction with students and community may be started once the schools are open.
• The questionnaire/checklist and other entries may be done manually till the launch of a portal and/or mobile app for social audit.

The State/UT may translate these guidelines into its official/Local language.

Objectives of Samagra Siksha Social Audit

The objectives of Social Audit can be put down in the following manner:

1. To ensure that the entitlements of a child as guaranteed under the RTE Act and funded through Samagra Shiksha are being provided in the school, in a timely and equitable manner.
2. To verify the timely issuance of authorization to spend to the School/SMC by appropriate Government under Single Nodal Account of Samagra Shiksha
3. To check the Status of infrastructure (Classroom, Furniture, Toilets, Drinking Water, and Electricity facility etc.) in the school along with status of works initiated through the funds sanctioned.
4. To ensure a feeling of safety in schools for all students specially girls.
5. To check the enrolment, retention and completion of schooling of students in the school.
6. To share and verify information placed under school report cards (generated under UDISE+).
7. To initiate and sustain an educational dialogue between all grass root level stakeholders viz. Teachers, HM, SMC, Students, LNPRl's members and Education Officials etc. to improve the school development.
8. To develop a participatory approach towards school development through community support.
9. To protect rights of Children with special needs (CWSN), students from marginalized/vulnerable sections in school.
10. Support the execution of the School Development Plan (SOP) along with the execution of School Safety Plan (SSP).

Roles of Head Masters, SMCs, in Samagra Siksha Social Audit

Roles and Responsibilities of various Functionaries associated with School Education department

I) Headmaster/Principal
General roles and responsibilities of a Headmaster/Principal are:

• a) The Headmaster or the Principal of the concerned school acts as the Chief Coordinator of the programme and ensures seamless coordination and effective implementation of different programmes.
• b)He/She oversees the working of the faculty/resource persons/skill trainers.
• c)The Principal/Headmaster shall arrange for proper guidance and counseling of the students and sensitization of the parents.
• d)The main functions of the School Principal/Headmaster may be summed up as
• Personnel Management, Student Management, Finance Management, Administrative Management, and General Management etc.
• The Headmaster/Principal will facilitate Social Audit team during the verification at the school level. S/he will provide all the information related to the school such as details of students, teachers, SMC representatives, attendance registers and accounts' statements of expenditure from School Grants, as also facilitate physical inspection of the school and interaction with students, parents and teachers.

School Management Committee (SMC)

Community participation in education sector has important role in delivering quality education. Community participation in educational management paves a path to stakeholders' participation in decision-making and management of schooling activities. 

It makes educational management much more democratic and contextual, besides tapping local knowledge and resources for good governance.

To enhance the participation of the community, the RTE Act, 2009 assigns immense importance to School Management Committees (SMCs) as a part of decentralized structure to ensure the effective and regular functioning of the schools and education centers, and one in which the parents will have a preponderance.

 Essential provisions regarding constitution and functions of SMCs have been given in Section 21 and 22 (attached at Annexure-1) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.

lt is obvious that majority of SMC members are the parents/guardians of those children who are studying in the school. Chairperson of the SMC shall also be a parent/guardian. The bank account of SMC is maintained by joint signature of chairperson and member Secretary (Headmaster). Representation of the socially backward parents and elected representatives of Gram Panchayat in SMC shall play an important role for effective development of a school.

The School Management Committee performs the following functions:

• a)Monitoring the working of the school.
• b)Preparing and recommending school development plan.
• c)Monitoring the utilization of the grants received from the appropriate Government or Local Authority (LA) or any other source.
• d)Performing such other functions as may be prescribed.

Further, SMC has many functions such as facilitation in enrolment, retention, completion of quality education for all children residing in the catchment area of a school. It is mandatory and important to make SMC members aware of the roles and functions through orientations/training programmes. The same is provided under Samagra Shiksha through the components of Training of SMC and Community Mobilization for all levels of schooling.

 

During Social Audit process in the schools, roles of SMCs will include:

• •To participate in Gram Sabha meetings and public hearing.
• •SMC members should check whether the action has been taken on the findings during Social Audit, al the school level.

Steps of the Social Audit Process:

A suggestive model for conducting social audit for the Samagra Shiksha Scheme includes three steps viz. the Pre-Audit Phase, the Social Audit Phase and the Post Audit Phase.

1. Pre-Audit Phase 
2. Social Audit Phase
3. Post Audit Phase

The Preparatory or Pre-Audit Phase:

Block Panchayat will constitute a team for the facilitation of Social Audit process at Cluster level, comprising of people who are interested to be part of the Social Audit on volunteer basis. This team may be termed as Social Audit Facilitation Team (SAFT). The team will visit the schools and facilitate the Social Audit for the scheme. The tenure of SAFT will be 3 years from its constitution.

The SAFT will consist of 6-8 persons and the composition of the team will be as follows:

• a) Cluster Social Auditor (CSA)
• b) Two parents (one parent belonging to the EWS or socially backward category/CwSN category).
• c) Two representatives from Village Organization of Women (VOW)/woman SHGs (under NRLM)
• or In case, VOW is not available in a particular village, two youths (preferably girls) from nearby college/s
• d) One representative of a Civil Society Group working on education
• e) One retired Govt. Official or Rt. Defense Personnel

The following persons should be excluded in constitution of SAFT:

• a) No person involved in running a private or NGO-run school should be included.
• b) No person who is a member of SMC.
• c) No government official currently associated with the education or related department.

The Social Audit Phase:

Social Audit Process at School/Community Level:
The Social Audit in the school will include the following:

1. o Understanding the role played by the different functionaries involved in the scheme.
2. o The school Social Audit should be conducted in a manner that does not disrupt the
3. regular functioning of the school.
4. o The SAFT must make an effort to meet not just the teachers and the headmaster but also the SMC members.
5. o The Social Audit facilitators must also speak to a sample of children from each
6. class using child-friendly methods to get information from them.
7. o A sample of parents, other than the SMC members should also be part of the SAFT's mandatory Iist of respondents.
8. o The SAFT's visit should be publicized widely to enable parents or other community members to give their inputs to the Team if they so desire.
9. o The SAFT should be accessible to seek inputs from all stakeholders during the Social Audit period.
10. o The views of the students & parents related to various aspects of the Samagra Shiksha scheme should also be sought and recorded.

The Follow-up or Post Audit Phase

Action on the social audit findings: This is a very important phase crucial for analysing the feedback received and taking corrective action.

• a) Action on social audit findings shall be taken in a time-bound manner.
• b) It is mandatory for the representatives of the implementing agency of the State as well as District level to be present at the social audit public hearing and shall ensure that corrective action is taken on the findings and shall implement the decisions taken at the public hearing without fail;
• c) Wherever, in the course of a social audit, if evidence, through written and oral testimonies against those who have misappropriated money, uniforms or books and documentary evidence is established, an action shall be initiated, and recovery shall be made. The action for recovery shall be without prejudice and action to be taken against the person should be as per relevant laws/rules;
• d) The reporting formats to conduct the Social Audit must include all the information starting from the basics. The format should consist of the information received by CSA in pre-Audit Phase, verification reports and the reports of issues found during the Audit Phase. A separate format for ATR may be included in the reporting forma

List of Documents and Data to be provided by the school to SAFT

• Detailed list of representatives in SMC (Copy to be provided)
• Minutes of SMC meetings (Copy to be provided)
• Details of books, uniforms and scholarships distributed to students (with dates of receiving/releasing)
• Details of complaints and ATR (Copy to be provided)
• School Grant Expenditure details (Copy to be provided)
• Account statements (Copy to be provided)
• Average attendance of Staff for last 3 months (Copy to be provided)
• Avcrage attendance of class wise students for last 3 months (Copy to be provided)
• Best practices and major achievements of the school including EBSB/Fit India Movement/ Khelo India/ TSE/NM MS (Copy to be provided)
• Any other relevant record, if any.

Social Audit Questionnaire for All Schools

Questionnaire for Social Audit Section A (for all categories of schools)
This may be filled before visit in the school. At the time of visit, the details in Section A should be cross checked and the discrepancies (if any) must be recorded

TABLE Section A (for all categories of schools)
This may be filled before visit in the school. At the time of visit, the details in Section A should be cross checked and the discrepancies (if any) must be recorded

s. No.	Particulars	To be filled prior to social audit in school	Pre-filled information to be checked and the discrepancies (if any) to be recorded
1	UDISE Code of the assigned school (11 digits)
2	State
3	District
4	Block
5	Village/Ward
6	Name of the school
7	Pin code
8	Lowest class in the class
9	Highest class
10	Type of school Boys only Girls only Co-educational
11	Management of school Department of Education Tribal Welfare Department j)local Body GovernmentAided Social welfare department
12	School location (Rural/Urban)
13	Year of Establishment of School
14	When does the academic session start (Month)

TABLE SECTION-B

S.N.	Category	Sub-category	Yes/No	Comments
For Elementary Schools only
I	Students Related	Children have received textbooks
2		Children have received workbooks
3		Children have received uniform
4		Children have received scholarships
5		Transport facility is provided to eligible students as per norms (@Rs. 6000/per child per annum up to ClassVIII)
6	Teachers Related	Enough teachers in primary school (at least 2 teachers upto 60 enrolment)
7		At least three teachers in uooer primary school
8		Part time instructor for art education has been appointed in uooer primary school
9		Part time instructor for health and physical education has been appointed in upper primary school
10		Part time instructor for work education has been appointed in upper primary school
11		A full-time head teacher has been appointed in upper primary school
12	Admin & Finance Related	Atleast 200 working days in primary school
13		Atleast 220 working days in upper primary
For all Categories of Schools
14	Students Related Issues	Average attendance or students is 80% or above in previous months of the year
15		There is a sare access to the school
16		The school is far for majority of the children and no transport support has been orovided
17		Children were admitted without screening test
18		Children have been admitted to an age- appropriate class
19		Children were provided special training for age-appropriate class
20		Children joined the school late in the year and were provided special training/s
21		Children have been denied admissions due to lack of documents out of
22		Number of Children have dropped school
23		Number of Children has been expelled
24		Children belonging to weaker sections/ disadvantaged grouos is discriminated against
25		Children have been discriminated against
26		Children have punishment been subjected to corporal
27		Children have harassment been subjected to mental
28		Children have been sexually harassed
29		All desirous children have received transfer certificatcs
30		Identification and assessment of child with special needs has been done
31		Aids and appliances have been provided for children with special needs (CwSN)
32		CwSN can attend school i.e., there are no barriers
33		Monthly stipend is paid to girl CwSN
34		Support for home based education of children with severe/multiple disability has been provided		·-
35		Escort/travel allowance is provided to CwSN
36		Appointment of special educators at block/cluster/school as per need has been done
37		CwSare aware about the faciIities/ schemes/concessions provided by education board
38	School Related Issues	All weather building is available
39		Enough classrooms are available • E/ementar1t.: At least one classroom for every teacher and an office-cum- store-cum- Head teacher's room • Secondaa:4 classrooms for 2 section school/2 classrooms/or I section school Senior Secondaa: 4 classrooms for 2
		section schoo//2 classrooms for I section school for each stream i.e., Science, Arts and Commerce.
40		Barrier free access is there
41		Adequate number separate toilets for boys are there (I unit/or every 80 boyJ
42		Adequate number separate toilets for girls are there (J unit for every 80 girls)
43		Boy's toilets have regular waler facility
44		Girl's toilets have regular water facility
45		Boy's toilets are usable
46		Girl's toilets are usable
47		Accessible toilet facilities for CwSN arc available
48		All CwSN toilets are functional
49		Adequate drinking water is available (Requirement: 1.5 lt./personldav)
		(DW points: I for every 50 pupils)
50		Quality of drinking water is good
51		Electricity is available in the school
52		Electricity is functional in the classrooms
53		A playground is there in the school
54		School building is secured by either a boundary wall or fencing wall
55		School has library
56		School library has newspapers
57		School library has magazines
58		School library has books on all subjects
59		School library has story books
60		The timetable consists of a library period
61		Regular entries are made in the library book issuance register
62		Play Material, Games and Sports equipment are available
63		Play Material, Games and Sports equipment are provided to children
64		Teaching Learning Equipment is available for each class
65		AvailableTeaching Learning Equipment IS used for each class
66		Digital infrastructure facilities are available in the school
67		Available Digital infrastructure facilities are functional
68		Available Digital infrastructure facilities are accessible to children
69		Available Digital infrastructure facilities are being used in Teaching Learning
70		Ek Bharat ShreshtaBharat club has been constituted
71		Innovative teachingmethods/activities are eing used
72		The school IS registered for Fit lndia school certificatioo
73		Bagless days have been introduced In the school
74		Youth and Eco clubs are available in the school
75		Labsareavailablewithequipment and are being used
76		Science and Maths kits are available
77		Scienceand Mathskitsare being used In classrooms
78		Se If-defence training IS imparted to girl students (only for class Vl-XII)
79		School disposes its solid waste safely. If yes, please specify the method
80		School disposes its liquid waste safely. If yes, please specifv the method
81	Teachers Related Issues	Teachers attend the school regularly
82		Teacher(s) regularly come late to school
83		Teacher(s) regularly leave early from school
84		Teachers meet with parents/guardians to apprise them about attendance, ability to learn and progress made in learning
85		Teacher(s) is engaged in private tuition
86		Teacher(s) does classroom teaching
87		Teacher(s) draws salary in this school, but does not work here
88		Teacher(s) works in this school, but does not draw salary from this school
89		Teachers are engaged in works other than teaching, disaster relief, election, or census work
90		Enough teachers are available in the school
91		Training has been provided to teachers recently
92	Admin & Finance Related	Mapping and tracking of children have been done
93		School is used for other purposes
94		Application form fee has been collected
95		Capitation fee has been collected
96		Entrance fees has been collected
97		Tuition fees has been collected
98		Other fees/charges/expenses have been collected
99		SMC has been constituted
100		¾ SMC members are from among parents of students studying in the school
JOI		Half the SMC members are women
102		Frequency of SMC meetings is not monthly
103		SMC has prepared school development plan
104		SMC monitors the school
105		SMC members are not aware that they are members of SMC
106		Schoolhas been visited by BRC coordinator/BED during the previous12 months. If yes, the number of visits?
10		School has been visited by' CRC coordinator during the previous 12 months. If yes, the number of visits?
10		School has received composite school grant
10		School has received funds for sports equipment
11		School has received funds for library
11		Allocation for CWSN has been received
11		School has received Grant for self-defence training for girls (only for class Vt-XII)
113		Transport allowance has been received
114		Transport allowance has been spent
115		At least 10% of the Composite grant has been spent on Swachhta Action Plan (SAP)
116		Funds for sports equipment have been spent
117		Funds for library have been spent
118		Funds for special education have been spent
119		Composite grant expenditure is as per norms
120		Sports equipment grant expenditure is as per norms
121		Library grant expenditure is as per norms
122	Safety & Security Related	SchoolhasconstitutedSchoolSafety Committee (SSC)
123		School has implemented theguidelines by National Disaster Management (NDMA) on School Safety and emergency preparedness.
124		School has suggestion box/question box/grievance box or any other mechanism for students/parents to inform about any safety concerns
125		'School Safety Pledge' ispredominantly displayed in the school campus
126		Electric cables & wires are insulated with proper earthing and beyond the reach of children
127		School has a Medical/Sick Room with essential medicines and first aid equipment
128		School has access to qualified Counsellor on call, as per requirement
129		School strictly monitors and addresses the issues of bullying, harassment, and discrimination/prejudice against students on the basis religion, caste, gender. Language, physique, disability or any other factor
130		School has a basic medicine box/first aid kit
131		Emergency medicalcare numbersare displayed in the school
132		School has sensitization programs for students & teachers to accommodate and harmonize with CwSN
133		Atleast one teacher has undertaken any professional course on skills in guidance and counsel!ing