For achieving a higher quality of education in rural areas, in addition to providing for physical infrastructure and teachers, community participation is equally important. In case of Tirthahalli, a high literacy taluk in Shimoga, Karnataka, it is found that community provides not merely physical and human facilities, but also exerts pressure on the teachers to achieve higher quality of education. Therefore, it is not just sufficient for a community to have trust, networks and norms to form social capital, rather it needs an ability to visualise the importance of education and translate it into action for achieving a higher quality of education. In Shimoga this has resulted in community pressure on teachers to achieve higher quality of education. The reasons for the high levels of community pressure can be traced back to the participation of people in various spheres of activities such as intellectual, political and apolitical movements in the region, since times past.
