NGO Revives PTAs In Rural Schools In NR

The Regional Advisory Information and Network Systems (RAINS), a non-governmental organisation in Tamale, is working to revive Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) and School Management Committees (SMCs) in rural schools in the Northern Region.

This is to ensure that PTAs and SMCs would take up their responsibilities of holding both teachers and education authorities accountable to enhance teaching and learning in rural schools.

In many rural communities, PTAs and SMCs have become dormant and this has resulted in a lapse in monitoring and supervision of teachers, thereby promoting teacher absenteeism and other forms of teacher indiscipline.

Already, these schools have to contend with poor infrastructure and shortage of teachers and learning materials, among other things.

The NGO and its partners are, therefore, hoping to address this weakness through a three-year project dubbed ‘Improving Educational Governance and Accountability in Northern Region (IEGA).’

The project is being implemented in partnership with the Rural Media Network (RUMNET) and with funding from STAR-Ghana, a multi-donor-pooled funding scheme.

The beneficiary communities are in the Savelugu/Nanton, West Mamprusi, Gusheigu and Karaga districts.

An Assistant Director in Charge of Supervision at the Gusheigu Education Directorate, Mr Iddi Modou, told the Daily Graphic that through the RAINS project, PTAs and SMCs had been reconstituted in some areas.

“The members then underwent a capacity-building programme to enable them play their roles effectively,” he explained.

Mr Modou said PTAs and SMCs were supposed to monitor the work of teachers and the usage of the capitation grant, as well as contribute some resources to support school management and motivate teachers.

The Assemblyman for Kpugi in the Gusheigu district, Mr Mohammed Musah, mentioned that both the PTA and SMC of the Wantugu Presby Primary School had been revived through this project.

“Now we have five members each for both the PTA and SMC,” he said and added that the PTA had representatives of the chief, religious leaders, parents, assembly man and teachers.

Mr Musah said the two committees now held regular meetings during which issues affecting the school were discussed and decisions taken collectively.

He mentioned, for instance, that during their recent meeting, the PTA discussed how to roof a section of the nursery block which had its roof ripped off in a storm in April this year.

“We implored the headteacher to write to the GES to give him a share of the capitation grant to undertake the roofing exercise. That has been done and the money has been released,” he stated.

He said the items for roofing had been bought and the PTA was putting pressure on the headteacher to quickly undertake the roofing project.

A Project Officer for the IEGA, Mr Ibrahim Osman Adam, explained that many people often overlooked the capacity of PTAs and SMCs to deal with the challenges facing the education sector.

“When we have an effective governance structure in place, it enhances the management of schools and keeps teachers on their toes,” he stated.

He said RAINS was, therefore, building the capacity of various PTAs and SMCs in the project areas and added that it had also instituted a multi-stakeholder platform to bring on board all partners, including civil society, local government and education authorities, to adopt a common path to improve education in the project districts.