School and community partnership in promoting elementary education: A case study of union council Chountra, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

The local communities and School Councils (SC) play a significant role in supporting the schools for successful and effective learning at the elementary level. This study examines the extent of community-school partnership in improving the functioning of elementary schools, and community development through the agency of SC. The main research question of the study was, how school and community mutually guide, interact and support each other for solving the burning issues faced to primary schools in their effective functioning. The case study method with survey technique was applied to conduct this study. Thirteen elementary schools located in Union Council (UC) Chountra, a Sub-Tehsil of district Rawalpindi were taken as an integrated case. The quantitative and qualitative data was gathered through a checklist with five point Likert scale, and a semi-structured interview which were corroborated for analysis to draw findings and conclusions. Analysis revealed that schools are not fully successful in increasing the retention rate for the universalization of elementary education due to poor teachers’ commitment, unattractive school buildings, corporal punishment, and parents’ deteriorating trust in public schools. Participation of community through the agency of SC in academic, administrative, logistic matters of schools is almost non-functional.