The Deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament, Dr. Clement Apaak, is urging the Ghana Education Service (GES) to immediately reverse its decision to change Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA) to Parent Associations (PA).
Dr. Apaak emphasized the significant role that PTAs have played in complementing the government’s efforts over the years in providing universal access to education.
His comments follow GES’ announcement of a decision to reorganize PTAs into PAs to address financial and operational challenges associated with providing access to education in schools.
In an interview with Citi News, Dr. Apaak described the decision to realign Parent Teacher Associations as “totally unnecessary.”
“…We have seen the negative consequences of that. The PTAs have and continue to play a very important role in assisting the government in delivering education. You go to many secondary schools across this country, you will see structures that were put up by PTAs,” Dr. Clement Apaak said.
The GES has developed new guidelines for Parent Associations, previously known as Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs), in pre-tertiary schools in the country.
The guidelines prohibit teachers from being part of the Association, impose restrictions on teachers collecting fees from students preventing them from writing exams, and stipulate that parents whose wards have completed school must no longer be part of the Association.
The Secretary of the National Council of the Parents Teachers Association in Ghana, Gapson Kofi Raphael, has also expressed dismay at the Ghana Education Service over its guidelines on PTAs.
He described the actions by the GES as unlawful and illegal.