Alumni Power or Passing the Buck? Maharashtra’s New Rule on School Support

A New Mandate With Old Questions

Maharashtra has become the first state in India to make alumni associations mandatory in every government, aided, and private school. The order, issued by the School Education and Sports Department in early October, directs all schools to form registered alumni bodies to help raise resources, mentor students, and strengthen development activities.

The intent sounds promising: build a bridge between former students and their alma mater to improve infrastructure and opportunities. But as educators have begun to point out, the move also raises difficult questions about accountability, funding priorities, and fairness.

The Promise: Strengthening Schools Through Shared Roots

Few would dispute the idea that schools thrive when their communities stay connected. Across India, alumni have quietly sponsored libraries, built classrooms, funded scholarships, and guided students toward careers their teachers never imagined decades ago.

Formalizing that spirit could, in theory, unlock enormous social capital. The new rule expects each school to:

• Identify at least a dozen former students willing to form a governing committee.

• Register the association under the Societies Act.

• Coordinate with local education offices for oversight.

• Channel alumni support into scholarships, mentoring, and infrastructure.

If executed well, this could democratize a model that until now has been the preserve of elite schools and old institutions. It could also inspire pride and ownership in rural and semi-urban communities that often feel cut off from the growth their graduates go on to achieve.

The Problem: When Good Ideas Mask Funding Gaps

Yet beneath the idealism lies a harder truth. Many teachers and principals see this as another way for the state to shift responsibility.

Public funding for school improvement has not kept pace with inflation or infrastructure decay. When alumni associations become a policy tool rather than a voluntary act, the fear is that what should be a state obligation becomes a community charity.

In practical terms, principals are already burdened with administrative compliance, audits, and admissions. Adding the responsibility of registering, managing, and reporting on an alumni society, often without clerical support, could easily become another layer of paperwork.

The larger worry is philosophical: if schools must now rely on alumni to repair buildings or equip labs, what does that say about the government’s commitment to its own education budget?

The Trust Deficit: Where Alumni Step Back

There’s another side to the story, one that alumni themselves whisper about. Many ex-students are eager to give back, but hesitate because of concerns about how funds are handled. Opaque accounting, internal politics, and misuse of school funds have eroded confidence in many management committees. A government directive alone cannot fix that.

Without transparent channels and independent audits, compulsory associations risk turning into symbolic committees rather than genuine bridges of trust. Alumni may sign up once but disengage soon after if their contributions vanish into bureaucracy.

Real sustainability will depend not just on registration, but on clean governance, clear reporting, and a culture of integrity that invites participation instead of suspicion.

What Parents Should Know and Do

For parents, this rule opens both a door and a dilemma.

The door: a structured way to bring back people who care deeply about the school, who can mentor, sponsor, and inspire.

The dilemma: ensuring that alumni participation complements government responsibility rather than replacing it.

Here’s how parents can play a constructive role:

• Ask: Has your child’s school formed or registered its alumni body?

• Ensure balance: The association should focus on enrichment, not basic maintenance that the state should fund.

• Promote transparency: Encourage annual public reports on how alumni funds are used.

• Bridge connections: Share verified updates and positive impact stories on community groups and local press.

Done right, this can turn schools into living communities of support. Done wrong, it can normalize underfunding by shifting public duties onto private goodwill.

The SchoolDoor View: Alumni Are an Underused Asset But Not a Substitute for the State

At SchoolDoor, we believe alumni engagement is one of the most powerful yet neglected levers for improving schools. Former students carry stories, pride, and expertise that no external consultant can replicate. But engagement must rest on trust and partnership, not replacement of responsibility.

The purpose of this rule should not be to outsource the government’s role in maintaining schools. It should be to expand the circle of participation, parents, teachers, alumni, and officials, each playing their rightful part.

A balanced approach could look like this:

• Government: continues funding core infrastructure and teacher capacity.

• Alumni: support enrichment (scholarships, mentoring, innovation projects)

• Parents: advocate transparency and hold both sides accountable.

When these forces align, the result isn’t privatization of responsibility but collectivization of care.

From Circular to Change: Making It Work

For this policy to fulfil its promise, three steps are critical:

1. Standard Templates and Clarity: Schools need clear, simple guidance for registration, governance, and auditing.

2. Transparency Tools: Public dashboards or district-level registries showing active alumni initiatives can build credibility.

3. Protection Against Overreach: The government must publicly commit that alumni contributions will supplement, not substitute, state funding.

If these safeguards are put in place, Maharashtra’s idea could become a model worth replicating nationwide. Otherwise, it risks being remembered as another reform that looked good on paper but collapsed under unclear ownership.

A Closing Thought

Goodwill should never be a government policy’s safety net. But when structured and safeguarded, it can be its strongest ally.

Alumni associations, if nurtured with transparency and respect, can become the connective tissue between past and present students, between gratitude and growth. Parents, too, have a role to insist that this reform lifts everyone’s responsibility, not let anyone off the hook.

Because real school development isn’t about finding someone else to pay the bill. It’s about ensuring everyone, from the state to the citizen, has skin in the game.