The Ministry of Education has said it would from September 2018, stop the practice where Parent Teacher Association (PTA) dues are captured on school bills and collected on behalf of the PTAs.
According to the Ministry, the new policy is not against payments of PTA dues by parents or students, but it is to ensure that the systems of the schools are not used in the collection of such monies.
Sector Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who made the announcement at a meeting in Kumasi with Directors of Education and Heads of selected Senior High Schools (SHSs), said PTA executives must devise other ways of collecting the dues from parents rather than using heads of schools and their systems in the collection process.
[contextly_sidebar id=”D9FqzRlH1aTahHhLJJGJxKDTUn6V8WYG”]The Minister cited an incident at the Manya Krobo Senior High School where a headmaster sacked some students for failing to pay PTA levies and described such development as unacceptable.
He said, “It is not to say students should not pay or parents should not pay PTA bills. There is an old students Association of the school bill and there is no philanthropic organization. PTA is one of those organizations. They should have their meetings, open their own account, collect their own monies and come and use it to support the school that they want to support”.
He indicated that the Ministry has met with executives of the PTA at the national level, and have discussed the new policy with them.
He further said the Ministry cannot continue to countenance such practice where poor students are being sacked from the classrooms because of their inabilities to pay PTA dues.
Dr. Opoku Prempeh maintained that Government will continue to support the PTA (s) since they contribute positively to the country’s education sector.
He explained that heads of schools must not continue to act as bursars or accountants of PTAs, since they can devise their own ways including using Mobile Money transactions to collect such dues.
“Henceforth, the PTA cannot use the school system to collect that money. I am not saying they cannot collect that money, they cannot use the school system to collect that money…because headmasters are not their accountants or bursars. We the Ministers we also know Mobile Money, so the Parent Teacher Associations should also know Mobile Money to take their monies”, he added.
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By: Hafiz Tijani/citifmonline.com/Ghana