Our Work

In Haryana, Samarthya began working in the district of Sonipat in 2018, in partnership with the District Administration of Sonipat, Haryana. Samarthya has also partnered with Breakthrough Trust to support and build capacity of their staff in activating SMCs in the schools they work with. In Sonipat, we directly worked with 11 government schools to strengthen participatory governance practices, and have now passed on the baton to the local community to sustain the initiative. In Karnal, Samarthya (in partnernship with Breakthrough Trust) worked on the ‘Parents as Partners’ program, which aims to improve the participation of parents in school development and their child’s learning in 10 government schools of Karnal. The program focused on achieving the following outcomes under 5 areas of parent participation- Improving parent teacher engagement, conducting effective SMC elections, conducting effective SMC trainings, improving the quality of SMC meetings and improving grievance redressal mechanism.

Highlights

• 14000+ SMCs across the state use the SMC training module launched by the Haryana Education Department. We assissted the state government in drafting this module and undertaking trainings for various stakeholder groups
• Between July 2023 and May 2025, Samarthya led the design and delivery of the Sanjhi Sabha process, supporting the formation of School Management Committees (SMCs) in 14,000+ government schools across Haryana.
• 80% of schools reported inviting parents through multiple channels such as phone calls, posters, WhatsApp messages, videos, and in-school announcements, making the SMC formation process more democratic and inclusive.
• 75% of block-level officials reported a complete understanding of their role in the Sanjhi Sabha process, indicating improved clarity on responsibilities within the education system.
• Supported the Education Department in conducting training for officials at all levels and SMC members across 14,000+ government schools.
• 82% of schools rated the 3rd and 4th quarter training sessions in 2024 with 4 stars or higher (out of 5).
• 84% of block-level officials found the training highly helpful and gave it a 5-star rating (3rd and 4th Quarter Training, 2024).
• 82.6% of respondents said they appreciated the discussion-based approach used during the training sessions (3rd and 4th Quarter Training, 2024).

 

Samarthya as a part of the Punjab Education Collective consults with the Department of School Education, Punjab. The role of Samarthya in the collective is to strengthen school community relations across the 19000+ government schools of Punjab. We actively assisst the education department in laying down guidelines for SMC formation elections. In 2023, Samarthya was involved in the department’s landmark decision of mandating the inclusion of a student in every SMC across the state. In 2023, as part of the Punjab Education Collective, Samarthya won the Collective Social Innovation presented by the The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, a sister organization of the World Economic Forum. It is a leading global platform that accelerates outstanding models of social innovation.

Highlights

• Parent participation formally embedded through 2 additional PTMs (mid-year, post-exam) and a dedicated Parent Induction in Punjab (2024)Supported the design and delivery of the first-ever statewide SMC training through the system in Punjab in 2025, reaching ~2.75 lakh SMC members in 19000+ government schools.
• Punjab’s Performance Grading Index rank improved from 13 to 2 (2018–2025), reflecting stronger school–community accountability. (Ministry of Education)
• 35% increase in attendance at PTMs and SMC meetings, and a 40% increase in discussions on child safety, dignity, health, and learning (Punjab, 2020–2025)

Samarthya has worked directly with 12 school in the North East Region of Delhi. Currently Samarthya is a part of the SMC cell constituted by Delhi Commission For Protection of Child Rights.

In 2019 and 2020 Samarthya partnered with SRIJAN to support the women leaders of Federations in Shivpuri, Mokkhed and Chhindwara in Madhya Pradhesh in identification of, building alignment on and attempting to solve their most pressing issues faced by the local public.