It was a middle school in a village of Toba Tek Singh (then a tehsil of Faisalabad district and now itself a district) from where Nisar Ahmad received his early education. There were only three teachers in that school, and two of them were non-residents. Mostly they used to stay in one of the total four rooms of the school. One was used as the Head Master’s office, and remaining two rooms were occupied by the most senior classes, i.e. 7th and 8th. The veranda was used by the students in case of rain or a dust/windstorm.

Nisar Ahmad’s father and some other notables of the village used to visit the school one by one, almost every other day. The time these family heads spent in the school used to be really tough for the students. The visiting elders would not only ask the teachers about their problems or needs but also about the performance of students in the class as well as in examinations. They would not only ask about any absentee teachers but also about students and, therefore, it was really hard for students to ask for furlough. Nisar and his fellows disliked that vigilance on the part of the village elders, but couldn’t ask them to refrain from the practice.

In those days, middle class (eighth grade) annual exams were conducted by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Faisalabad. And when Nisar reached senior classes, 6th, 7th, and 8th, he came to know that the students of his school always performed very well in the board exams. Despite severe shortage of teachers, students always produced very good results. There were only three teachers, for all nine classes – katchi (pre-one) class and then from one to eight classes. That means each teacher used to teach and supervise three classes, on an average.

The people who used to visit the school on a regular basis included two retired army men and Nisar’s father, who was a farmer by profession but he had a special interest in educating his children. Being a child, Nisar could not understand the importance of that vigilance at that time. But, now he can comprehend fully that their regular visits to the school were not without purpose. He feels they must have reached some understanding amongst themselves about keeping a check on students as well as teachers. They might have not known terminologies like "teachers-parents liaison committees", but the work they carried out was very important and significant.

In the modern age, all educationists are convinced of the importance of teacher-parent cooperation and vigilance on the part of citizens for promotion of education in the country. Population Association of Pakistan President Shahnaz Wazir Ali, former co-chairperson of the Pakistan Education Task Force (PETF), told TNS that cooperation and close liaison between parents and teachers is a must for quality education.

On August 4, 2007, the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, acting on the recommendations of the National Commission for Government Reforms in the Education Sector, gave approval for various reforms. It was decided that School Management Committees (SMCs) and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) would be empowered through greater administrative autonomy (with the majority of members and chairpersons from among parents) and financial powers. Also, more financial resources would be placed at their command (as is being done in the Punjab) to recruit teachers to fill temporary vacancies, monitor teacher absenteeism and utilise allocated funds to improve the schooling environment.

All these vigilance bodies have been working in almost all districts of the four federating units of Pakistan for long. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) working under the APF in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province has established Parent-Teacher Committees (PTCs) at all its schools in the province. The PTCs address topics such as teacher absenteeism, appropriate use of PTC funds, and other school-specific needs.

However, people in the field have reservations about the working of the committees. Dr Veqar Ahmed, deputy executive director, SDPI, believes that social accountability could address a range of issues in education, including identification of ghost schools, absenteeism among teachers and infrastructure unavailability.

Fayyaz Yaseen, a research associate at the SDPI, said that increased people’s participation could push the governments to set their policies right and improve education service in the public schools. He says that in reputed private schools, weekly one or two days are specified as the parent day. In those days, parents come to school, meet teachers and discuss problems and weak points of their children and this vigilance and coordination produces good results.

In these private schools, teachers know it well that they are being monitored by parents, and in case of complaints by the parents, they may be reprimanded or even may lose their jobs. Therefore, they try their level best to satisfy students in class and their parents outside the class, says Fayyaz.

However, in public sector schools, teachers have no such fears. There are other reasons also, but one is lack of teachers’ interest and lack of accountability that keeps them from putting in 100 per cent effort to improve the lot of students.

He says that recently the Punjab government has launched a good initiative. It has linked the salary, perks and privileges of teachers to the results of students. If students of a particular teacher show good results, he/she is rewarded in the shape of a better salary or other incentives.

A study, Citizen Report Card, conducted in the field of education, revealed that about 40 per cent of students and parents are not satisfied with the quality of education provided in public sector schools. The report highlighted the need for vigilance by parent-teacher bodies. However, Fayyaz regrets that teaching methods at the public schools are obsolete and Parents-Teachers Associations (PTAs) had been non-functional. That’s why, despite enhanced budgetary allocations, quality education is not being imparted in government schools.

Zehra Arshad, National Coordinator, Pakistan Coalition for Education (PCE), believes that social accountability is a political process which is related to empowerment of communities. Stressing a vigilant citizenry, she says that civil society should sensitise and mobilise the marginalised and discriminated against public for their rights and entitlements. She says that civil society should constructively engage strong informal voices of the public for constructive engagement with formal decision-making structures to hold them accountable and transparent to manage public affairs. She says that education standards in the country could be improved significantly if parents and citizens at large assume the important role of vigilant and monitoring bodies.