System of Enrichment of School Quality (SMF SESQ) has been aimed at total quality improvement of schools by assessing their performance on nationally and internationally accepted standards. The philosophy promotes high standards of performance, process of continual improvement, and quality assurance practices. It is more about creating awareness and acting upon it for improvement rather than measuring performance for rewards or punishments.
SMF SESQ is an external assessment system built upon a well-researched common framework of assessment for all type of schools. It has a generic assessment framework applicable to:
SMF System for Enrichment of School Quality (SMF SESQ) is a second generation school assessment system. It has evolved with stakeholder feedback and decade-long implementation experience, using as inputs various policy recommendations such as those stated in NCF 2005, RTE 2009 and UNICEF, to name a few.
Our system has been validated by experts from NUEPA and NCERT. This present system has been rolled out in over 150 schools (government as well as private) across India since 2011 till date, covering a broad spectrum of schools. SMF has a dedicated design and development team of competent professionals with diverse domain expertise who are working on various assessment models.
SMF SESQ offers a comprehensive methodology of assessment with a distinct action-oriented outcome for every accredited school and is suitably designed keeping in mind the need to optimize time and cost considerations. Its design is influenced by prescribed norms, standards and frameworks like RTE, SSA, NCF, and state board-specific requirements. It is also technically enhanced by several quality management principles adopted worldwide. SMF assessment system has the flexibility to accommodate a choice of methodology with multiple assessment levels and assessors at every level. It assesses schools along well-defined standards for the four broad process areas namely, governance, school administration, leadership and teaching-learning.
SMF SESQ is not just an assessment tool, but also a developmental tool for the school. One of the highlights of SMF SESQ is its multi-level reporting. SMF strives to effect transformation in quality not just at the school-level, but also at decision- and policy-making levels. The SMF SESQ reports (at school, district/block/cluster and state/nodal authority levels) also provide an improvement roadmap for the respective stakeholders, with proposals of concrete action points at the school level that can be implemented in order to initiate the process of school improvement.
In order to partner with the nodal authorities for the implementation of its assessment system, SMF proposes three different partnership options:
A. Implementation of standard SMF SESQ: This is the standard SMF framework with tools and methodology which can be implemented in the states/assigned geographical territory after an MoU with the nodal authority.
B. Customized SMF SESQ: This option seeks to customize or adapt the SMF assessment system as per the requirements of the nodal authorities, state governments or boards after an extensive dialogue to understand and bridge the gaps as per the requirements of the nodal authority.
C. Develop a new assessment system: SMF can also design and develop a completely need-specific framework to address special contexts/new guidelines/perspectives/ of the nodal authorities. All the three partnership options are provided with a state-of-the-art software application that can be configured to accommodate changes or customization at any level. SMF also provides support in other areas like documentation and several post-accreditation programs in the schools.
A deep rooted fallacy exists among the various school governing bodies, (state or privately run) around the solution to quality improvement in schools. It places an over emphasis on the need to upgrade the profile i.e. (infrastructure, facilities and amenities) in order to enhance school quality.
However, there are plenty of evidences worldwide to prove otherwise; of schools which have ensured provision of good quality education for their children despite very meagre resources in hand. Such schools aspire and also manage to achieve the desired outcomes purely on the strength of effective processes especially in teaching learning and school leadership.
The SMF SESQ framework has been conceptualized on the backdrop of this profound belief that even schools with under-developed profiles are capable of demonstrating process maturity.
| Limitations of quality improvement through profile upgradation | Advantages of quality improvement through process improvements |
|---|---|
| Needs budget for development, which is a factor often outside the purview of those who act within the school’s premises | Needs awareness and willingness for maturity enhancement, a factor within the purview of all those who act within the school’s premises |
| The best of profile cannot independently contribute to the overall quality of the school | Matured processes possess the strength of independently contributing to educational quality, irrespective of the profile type |
Profile quality depends upon:
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Processes can be improved by:
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For information about the program, please visit: http://www.mutthafoundation.org