School Council Policy in Punjab: Policy Formulation without Participation of Stakeholders Rafaqat Islam * Abstract: Quality and equitable access to education largely remain mere aspirations for the populace. Despite the earnest efforts and commitment on the part of Government of the Punjab as well as support of international educational organizations, the goals continue to elude all efforts. This research has been con- ducted with the assumption that involvement of community in the major stages of policy-making in Pakistan is minimal. The study has highlighted the lack of effective community participation both at policy formulation and implementation stages in the Punjab Province. It has attempted to point out the irritants that discourage community participation. The researcher seeks a solution to the problem by suggesting devolution of plan- ning to lower levels to incorporate local interests and working upwards to the higher tiers in a democratic way. Such an approach will beget ownership and maintain interest of the stakeholders. Such a process would encompass the advantage of bureaucratic expertise while promoting the interest and capabilities of populace. Keywords: School-based management, school management committee, village education com- mittee, education sector reform program, social action program. Introduction Over the past decade or so, the government of the Punjab has managed to provide rea- sonable educational facilities throughout the province. Although this measure has made elementary education more accessible, the poor quality of education remains a major problem. Besides, the lack of practical benefit and, in several cases, high opportunity cost cause disillusion to parents and students. A general evaluation of the situation along with a comparative analysis of educational effort in various developed and developing countries reveals that mere increased budgetary allocations without institutional reforms, particularly at the conception level, cannot significantly increase the qualitative output of the school education sector and the enthusiasm of masses for education. In its attempt to address the problem, the government of the Punjab has been trying to devise vari- ous policies for the participation of local community in the school education processes. However, such policies have not been carefully thought through, for example composi- tion of school councils (school management committees) had to be changed several times. Moreover, policy formulation tends to be bureaucratic and lacks coordination among the stakeholders. Also, there exists a tendency to generalize policy implementation proce- dures disregarding the limitations of particular communities. * PhD Scholar, National Defence University, Islamabad. Email: rafaqatislam@yahoo.com 39 Journal of Education & Social Sciences Vol. 5(1): 39-51, 2017 DOI: 10.20547/jess0421705103