PTA dues have not been restored – GES PRO cautions
The Ghana Education Service (GES) has instructed the reinstated Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) not to collect any dues or levies from parents.
According to the GES, it is currently working on clear modalities to ensure that PTA operations remain in line with national rules and regulations.
The GES says the move is aimed at improving collaboration between parents and schools and ultimately enhancing learning outcomes.
This was disclosed by the Public Relations Officer of the GES, Daniel Fenyi on July 17.
” We believe that the teachers and parents are two important stakeholders, we should communicate, we should dialogue for the welfare of the students, the challenges of the students and the progress of the learners to be able to work together to get the desired outcome,” he said.
Mr Fenyi also cautioned against levying of students.
” Now we don’t expect that any PTA dues, any form of money or any form of fee that will be a hindrance to the learning and school activities of the students. Yes PTA has been restored but PTA dues have not been necessarily restored,” he cautioned.
“We want every learner to be in the classroom and learn without the hindrance of money, but the details of how the PTA should operate and approvals they will need before operating will soon be rolled out because we are still in contact with all the important stakeholders to ensure that we bring out modalities that are workable among all the parties,” he noted.
Meanwhile, both the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) are calling on the government to go a step further by enacting a legislation to govern PTA operations.
The decision followed widespread complaints that some PTAs were charging exorbitant levies and dues, placing a financial burden on parents and affecting students’ access to education.
They were also accused of clashing with school management teams leading to tensions that the government deemed counterproductive to the learning environment.
As a result, their operations were suspended nationwide. However, the current government, through the Ghana Education Service, has reinstated the Parent-Teacher Associations.
The GNAT, Thomas Tanko Musah, is calling for legislation to protect PTA operations.
“What we need to do now is to stop the political football where NDC has restored then another government will come tomorrow and say no, when we do that, education doesn’t like that,” he pointed out.
According to him, “the frequent changes in education policies, will bring along dislocation, you bring along fracture, distortion, confusion and disorder. Education doesn’t like that, so if it is legislation let’s do it, so no government comes tomorrow and say that they want to change it.”
The President of NAGRAT, Angel Carbonu, is also urging government to put in place stringent regulatory measures to ensure PTAs operate within clear guidelines.
“What we have to do now, we should set the regulation so that the PTAs can follow. It ought not to be an open ended where schools do what they like, an aspect should be how much parents should be levied. That I think should be regulated,” he stressed.
As the GES prepares to release operational guidelines for the PTAs, all eyes are on how these associations will contribute to school development without repeating the challenges of the past.