President of the National Council of
Parent-Teacher Associations (NCPTA), Mr Alexander Yaw Danso, has reiterated the
association’s commitment towards the successful implementation of the Free
Senior High School Policy.
He said that,
“Sabotage was not their stock-in-trade” and that the PTAs would
continue to provide infrastructure and other necessary materials to support the
government’s agenda in the provision of quality education in Ghana.
Mr Danso said this in an interview to
debunk the claims by some Ghanaians that the leadership of NCPTA was doing
everything possible to sabotage the Free SHS which had been implemented by the
New Patriotic Party administration under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
He said that the National Council fully
supported the Ghana Education Service (GES) directive to school heads to
refrain from collecting PTA dues and levies as well as dismissal of students
who failed to pay.
According to him, the GES rather urged
parents to find ways of collecting PTA dues and levies without using school
authorities.
“From time immemorial, the schools
had been the medium of collection of dues and levies,” he said.
Mr Danso further said that NCPTA would
abide by the GES’ directive to school heads not to dismiss any students who
failed to pay.
The government removed all costs that
inhibited secondary education when it introduced the Free SHS Policy in 2017.
Some school heads, however, circulated
letters to parents stating that their children and wards would not be allowed
to attend classes if they did not pay PTA dues.
It was against this backdrop that the
Director General of Ghana Education Service suspended the collection of PTA
dues and levies in all public senior high schools as well as technical and
vocational institutions.
The suspension was directed at the
school authorities not the PTA taking cognisance of the tremendous role the
Association (PTA) had played in the education sector and, therefore, allowing
the heads of schools to collect the dues and levies, would defeat the purpose
of the free SHS policy.
“The success of these students who
are our own children would be a credit to the parents,” Mr Danso said and
commended the GES for taking pragmatic measures in ensuring sanity regarding
the collection of the said dues by parents.
The NCTPA President said that he had led
a three-member team to go round the country to sensitise parents on the need to
give their full support to the free education policy especially the
Double-Track system.
He, therefore, appealed to all PTA
executives to be proactive, unite and work hard regardless of one’s party
affiliation in the interest of the children who would be the nation’s future
leaders adding that, “PTA is not only about collecting monies but also is
concerned with their welfare”.
Mr Danso humbly asked the executives to be transparent in their dealings and refrain from embezzling any funds meant for the association.
By Castro Zangina-Tong
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