News & Announcement
SAFT training on Samagra Shiksha and PM POSHAN held in Pakyong.
Pakyong, November 25 (IPR): A one-day training for the Social Audit Facilitation Team (SAFT) of Pakyong District, for the conduct of social audits on Samagra Shiksha and Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 was organised by the State Project Office, Samagra Shiksha, Education Department in collaboration with the Social Audit Unit of Sikkim, at the RDD Community Complex, Rurban Pakyong, today.
The training aimed to equip participants with the necessary knowledge, skills, and procedures to effectively conduct social audits of the Samagra Shiksha and PM POSHAN schemes.
Chief Education Officer, Pakyong District, Mr Narayan Mishra attended the training as the chief guest.
In his address, Mr Narayan Mishra explained that a social audit is a community-based public process to assess a programme’s implementation, effectiveness, and accountability. He emphasised that social auditing is not only about expenditure, but also focuses on equity and equality, understanding social performance, identifying gaps, and fostering transparency in institutions.
He outlined the purpose of social audits as a tool to increase accountability, generate feedback for future improvement, and ensure stakeholder participation in decision-making.
The CEO further described the roles and responsibilities of the SAFT, urging its members to assess physical and financial progress in schools, identify challenges, and propose corrective measures. He stressed the importance of collaborative efforts to enhance transparency and institutional accountability.
Likewise, Assistant Director (Headquarter) and State Nodal Officer for the Social Audit Section, Mr Laxuman Adhikari, and Assistant Director, District Education Office, Pakyong, Mr Kailash Sharma, explained the background and purpose of social audits. They stated that the objective is to identify gaps and improve programme effectiveness, emphasising that a social audit is a fact-finding exercise rather than a fault-finding process.
Following this, Joint Director, Voluntary Health Association of Sikkim (VHAS) and Master Trainer, Social Audit Unit (SAU), Mr Ashok Sharma, detailed the concept, importance, and objectives of social audits of the Samagra Shiksha. He also outlined the structure of the SAU under VHAS and the roles and responsibilities of the unit.
Further, the role and responsibilities of SAFT were explained in detail, covering the pre-audit phase, audit phase, post-audit phase, and cluster public hearings. Guidelines under Samagra Shiksha, including the National Education Policy, major components, quality parameters, and relevant Acts such as the RTE Act 2009 and POCSO Act, were also discussed.
In addition, he guided participants through the list of documents and data to be provided by the school to SAU, along with the do’s and don’ts of the social audit process.
Sessions included familiarisation with social audit data collection tools/ report formats/ issue formats.
Demonstrations were held on conducting focus group discussions with school heads, teachers, students, parents, community members, and School Management Committees along with format discussion.
The training further covered the background, key objectives, guidelines of PM POSHAN, along with the format for conducting its social audit.
An open discussion and feedback session was also held, allowing participants to share observations, clarify procedures, and discuss issues related to the social audit process.
The training was attended by block heads from six blocks of the district, cluster-wise SAFT members, officials from District Education Office, Pakyong, Cluster Resource Coordinators and Block Resource Coordinators/ Block Education Coordinators and team members from VHAS.
The training aimed to equip participants with the necessary knowledge, skills, and procedures to effectively conduct social audits of the Samagra Shiksha and PM POSHAN schemes.
Chief Education Officer, Pakyong District, Mr Narayan Mishra attended the training as the chief guest.
In his address, Mr Narayan Mishra explained that a social audit is a community-based public process to assess a programme’s implementation, effectiveness, and accountability. He emphasised that social auditing is not only about expenditure, but also focuses on equity and equality, understanding social performance, identifying gaps, and fostering transparency in institutions.
He outlined the purpose of social audits as a tool to increase accountability, generate feedback for future improvement, and ensure stakeholder participation in decision-making.
The CEO further described the roles and responsibilities of the SAFT, urging its members to assess physical and financial progress in schools, identify challenges, and propose corrective measures. He stressed the importance of collaborative efforts to enhance transparency and institutional accountability.
Likewise, Assistant Director (Headquarter) and State Nodal Officer for the Social Audit Section, Mr Laxuman Adhikari, and Assistant Director, District Education Office, Pakyong, Mr Kailash Sharma, explained the background and purpose of social audits. They stated that the objective is to identify gaps and improve programme effectiveness, emphasising that a social audit is a fact-finding exercise rather than a fault-finding process.
Following this, Joint Director, Voluntary Health Association of Sikkim (VHAS) and Master Trainer, Social Audit Unit (SAU), Mr Ashok Sharma, detailed the concept, importance, and objectives of social audits of the Samagra Shiksha. He also outlined the structure of the SAU under VHAS and the roles and responsibilities of the unit.
Further, the role and responsibilities of SAFT were explained in detail, covering the pre-audit phase, audit phase, post-audit phase, and cluster public hearings. Guidelines under Samagra Shiksha, including the National Education Policy, major components, quality parameters, and relevant Acts such as the RTE Act 2009 and POCSO Act, were also discussed.
In addition, he guided participants through the list of documents and data to be provided by the school to SAU, along with the do’s and don’ts of the social audit process.
Sessions included familiarisation with social audit data collection tools/ report formats/ issue formats.
Demonstrations were held on conducting focus group discussions with school heads, teachers, students, parents, community members, and School Management Committees along with format discussion.
The training further covered the background, key objectives, guidelines of PM POSHAN, along with the format for conducting its social audit.
An open discussion and feedback session was also held, allowing participants to share observations, clarify procedures, and discuss issues related to the social audit process.
The training was attended by block heads from six blocks of the district, cluster-wise SAFT members, officials from District Education Office, Pakyong, Cluster Resource Coordinators and Block Resource Coordinators/ Block Education Coordinators and team members from VHAS.
