The Association of Private Unaided Schools has urged the Union government to clarify that the newly issued School Management Committee (SMC) Guidelines 2026 apply only to government and government-aided schools, contending that extending them to private unaided institutions would violate both the Right to Education (RTE) Act and constitutional protections guaranteed by the Supreme Court.

In a detailed representation submitted on May 20 to the Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, the association objected to the guidelines issued on May 6, which mandate the constitution of SMCs in all schools in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the Samagra Shiksha framework. Association president Damodar Prasad Goyal signed the representation.

The association argued that Section 21 of the RTE Act, 2009, explicitly exempts private unaided schools covered under Section 2(n)(iv) from the mandatory SMC constitution. It cited the Ministry of Education’s own 2012 statutory guidelines, which clearly stated that “private unaided institutions are exempted from the constitution of School Management Committees.” The representation also cited the Ministry’s 2021 School Safety and Security Guidelines, which reiterated that private schools are exempt from forming SMCs in the prescribed format under the RTE Act.

The issue gained urgency after administrative authorities, including the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, issued directions on May 15 seeking to extend the SMC guidelines to recognised private schools. The association termed such actions “ultra vires” and in direct conflict with the parent legislation.

In its submission, the association relied heavily on landmark Supreme Court judgments, including TMA Pai Foundation v. State of Karnataka and P.A. Inamdar v. State of Maharashtra, which upheld the autonomy of private unaided educational institutions in matters of administration and governance. The representation argued that compulsory SMC structures would amount to external interference in the day-to-day management of schools, infringing upon rights protected under Articles 19(1)(c), 19(1)(g), 26 and 30 of the Constitution.

According to the association, nearly 3.39 lakh unaided private schools across India — accounting for 23% of all schools and catering to around 9.58 crore students — could be affected if the guidelines are enforced on private institutions. The representation warned that imposing SMCs on such schools would undermine existing statutory management committees and could “amount to nationalisation of unaided private schools.”