Strengthening School Governance: Assessing the Impact of School Management Committees on School Administration in Public Schools of Pakistan

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of School Management Committees (SMCs) on school administration in public schools across Pakistan. Using a quantitative correlational design, data were collected from 1,500 respondents, including school heads, teachers, and SMC members. The analysis explored the relationships between various SMC roles—including awareness, enrolment, teacher management, financial management, basic facilities, and pedagogical practices—and school administrative performance. Correlation results revealed significant positive associations for awareness (r = .344), teacher management (r = .307), financial management (r = .085), basic facilities (r = .574), and pedagogical practices (r = .332) with school administration, while enrolment showed no statistically significant relationship (r = .046, p = .074). Multiple regression analysis confirmed that roles in basic facilities (β = .471), pedagogical practices (β = .124), financial management (β = .104), enrolment (β = .122), awareness (β = .095), and teacher management (β = .045) were all significant predictors, explaining 39.1% of the variance in school administration (R² = .391, F = 161.468, p < .001). These findings underscore the critical need to enhance the capacity of SMCs in key functional areas for more effective school governance.