Village education committees in West Bengal, India: Planned vision and beyond

This paper deals with decentralization of educational administration in West Bengal, India. It gives specific emphasis on studying education committees formed with the community members at village level for looking after the management of primary schools in the concerned localities. For the purpose of this study primary data have been collected from four village education committees. The data provides information on the formation, structure and functioning of village education committees. The findings contradict the ideology on the basis of which these committees are formed. The paper ends with an attempt to explore certain future paths of action.