A boat when it is ashore needs an anchor to keep it firm, to prevent it from

being swept away by the waves of the sea

-Community leader is the ‘Anchor’

Community leader has a major role in promoting education in the community may be urban or rural. Community participation in education can be enhanced with the help of community leaders because they hold the capacity to generate awareness among other community members as they hold a very important and respectable place within the community. Community leaders can mobilize the community to participate for supporting education in community. They can generate awareness among the community members regarding education and can lead them in doing so. The task of promoting education within a particular community can be successfully done with the help of community leaders because they are the person who can win maximum favour and support of the community and are well familiar with all the aspects of the community. They can better analyze the situations in the community and can take actions for it. Community participation has been considered as a very effective strategy for promoting or restructuring education in any community and this community participation is possible only with the efforts of the community leader. Community leadership is so crucial for enhancing community participation for education.

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan attaches great importance to systemic mobilization of the community and creation of an effective system of decentralized decision making.  The success of community based bodies for education such as Village Education Committee (VGC), Parents Teacher Association (PTA), Mothers Teacher Association (MTA), School Management Committee (SMC) are based on the capacity of the community leaders to manage the functions of these bodies. Community leaders can make the environment conducive to the desire of education in the community. They have the capability to heighten the desire in the parents/families to such an extent that sending children and facilitating their participation in school can become a norm in the community.

Refer to this small document to be familiar with the role of community leaders in education and to know several components and contents of their training. 

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Deepshikha