While evidence from developed countries suggests that communities may contribute to school effectiveness and efficiency, there is a need for more systematic reviews of such practice in developing countries to inform international policy. Research suggests that community participation through school councils could produce opposite outcomes: it can either reinforce or challenge social practices outside of schools. This study is a descriptive analysis of school councils in rural Punjab in Pakistan, a developing country with one of the world's lowest literacy rates. In summarising the author's central findings, she expounds on who participates on school councils in terms of socio-economic status (SES) and gender, what decisions councils make, and the differences between councils in girls' and boys' schools, since schools are segregated by gender in Pakistan. In doing so, the author explores to what extent school councils serve as a lever for mobilising the social capital embedded in these rural communities. (Contains 4 tables, 2 figures and 2 notes.)