Efficacy of PTAs under shadow

Thiruvananthapuram: The effectiveness of parent teachers associations, especially in unaided, CBSE and ICSE schools, is under question now. Many parents say that some schools appoint management cronies as office-bearers to ensure that such bodies do not cause trouble.

However, an effective PTA can act as a link to help parents get a clear response about the performance of their wards.

It has been asked how a PTA  in a school with over 4,000 students can  act as an effective medium of communication between the parents and the teachers. How many parents can meet  the teachers to discuss their wards’ problems? Many schools have failed to address such crucial issues.

The government higher secondary school, Neduveli, had initiated some steps to make PTA meetings effective. It formed a ‘Pocket PTA’  under which the teachers go to a particular house in an area to meet the parents and  share the  needs of their children.   

The Pocket PTA discusses  the issues directly with the parents, including the learning strategies and processes in classrooms,  and helps create a learning environment in their houses, said Sujeev Jose,  a teacher of  the school.

Sources said that though the state government  had issued guidelines for the formation of PTAs  in government and aided schools, no such norms were in force in the case of unaided, CBSE and  ICSE schools.

As per the guidelines, the  membership in a PTA is limited to parents,  or in their absence  the guardian of duly enrolled students,  and teachers in a given school.

The term of PTA president is limited to three years. The PTA general body will be composed of all parents of enrolled students. The general body has to be convened as required,  but in no case less than thrice a year.

Mr Sudhir G. Kollara,  president, all-Kerala Parent Teachers Association, said that  most of the unaided CBSE and ICSE schools do not allow dissident voices in PTAs.  In most cases,  only parents who have close relations with the management are elected to them.  If any PTA does not fall in line,  it is dissolved and replaced by a committee which the management can control, said Mr Kollara.

Jyothis Chandran, chairman of Jyothis Central School, Kazhakuttom,  said that  the structure of parent teachers associations differed in government, aided, unaided, CBSE and ICSE schools. For government schools, the PTAs have a more active role. They can collect money for school development  through donations and create infrastructure  and even appoint teachers on temporary basis  using such funds when regular teachers are on leave, said Mr Chandran.

The  unaided, CBSE and ICSE schools do not have such PTAs.  In some schools, the PTAs are headed by parents who continue in office for a long period even after their wards complete  their education. In some schools,  PTAs are elected periodically.   “In our school,  no office- bearer is allowed to continue for over three years,” Mr Chandran said.

Mr N. Sreekumar, general secretary, pro-CPI All-Kerala School Teachers Union,  said that as per the Right to Education Act, the PTAs in government schools have been converted into school management committee (SMC) with more administrative power. In aided schools, SMCs have not been formed and the PTAs continued. However, the PTAs have all the power similar to SMCs,  he said.

As per norms, adequate representation has  to be provided to women, the parents or guardians of the children belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes,  disadvantaged groups and weaker sections. Besides, the PTAs should have members of the local bodies also to give them a democratic character, said Mr Sreekumar.