{"id":77215,"date":"2025-07-20T09:44:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T09:44:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=77215"},"modified":"2025-07-20T09:44:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T09:44:03","slug":"gnat-president-calls-for-parliamentary-legislation-to-protect-reinstated-ptas-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=77215","title":{"rendered":"GNAT President calls for parliamentary legislation to protect reinstated PTAs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 53 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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The President of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Rev. Isaac Owusu, is advocating for a robust legal framework to enshrine the recent government directive reinstating Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) in basic and secondary schools across the country. <\/p>\n

His call comes amidst concerns that, without legislative backing, future administrations could once again sideline these vital community structures in education.<\/p>\n

Rev. Owusu made the appeal while addressing the media during the opening of the \u201cTeaching Together\u201d workshop, a collaborative initiative between GNAT and the Canadian Teachers\u2019 Federation (CTF), held at the GNAT Institute for Research and Industrial Relations in Abankro.<\/p>\n

He emphasised GNAT\u2019s long-standing advocacy for the revitalisation and institutionalisation of PTAs, which he described as \u201cessential structures for promoting collaboration between parents and educators in managing schools and improving educational outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ghana Education Service (GES) officially announced the full reinstatement of PTAs in all pre-tertiary schools on Thursday, July 17, 2025, following a directive from President John Dramani Mahama.<\/p>\n

This directive marks a significant reversal of a 2019 policy under the previous administration, which effectively suspended PTAs and banned mandatory levies, replacing them with less influential \u201cParent Associations\u201d (PAs) in the wake of the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme.<\/p>\n

President Mahama had, in June 2025, described the sidelining of PTAs as \u201cunacceptable,\u201d promising their full restoration to the education system.<\/p>\n

According to Rev. Owusu, the restoration of PTAs \u201ceffectively returns the management of schools to the community, and any reversal would be a setback to inclusive governance in education.\u201d <\/p>\n

He underscored the need for Parliament to \u201cenact legislation that would offer legal protection to PTAs, preventing future governments from arbitrarily dismantling or sidelining them.\u201d <\/p>\n

This legislative measure, he argued, would provide the necessary stability and long-term assurance for PTAs to effectively contribute to school development.<\/p>\n

PTAs in Ghana have historically played a crucial role in school governance, infrastructure development, and student welfare. <\/p>\n

Their contributions have included providing teaching and learning materials, supporting school renovations, enforcing student discipline, and even organising extra classes. <\/p>\n

Studies have shown that strong PTAs foster collaboration between parents, teachers, and the community, creating a more conducive learning environment.<\/p>\n

The \u201cTeaching Together\u201d workshop, being held at the GNAT Institute, brought together over 300 educators from the Northern, Bono, Ahafo, and Upper West Regions. <\/p>\n

It is the first batch of over 600 teachers scheduled for training under the project, which focuses on \u201cteachers teaching teachers to teach,\u201d enhancing pedagogical skills in areas like inclusive education, technology education, gender and culture, and classroom management.<\/p>\n

Rev. Isaac Owusu also took the opportunity to call on the Minister of Finance, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, to prioritize education in fiscal policy. <\/p>\n

He urged the Ministry to \u201censure that teachers\u2019 welfare is given the necessary attention.\u201d He highlighted the persistent challenges faced by educators across Ghana, including inadequate resources, poor infrastructure, and delayed allowances, stating that these issues \u201cnegatively affect teacher motivation and educational delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ghana\u2019s education sector continues to grapple with these challenges. A 2022 Ghana Education Service (GES) report indicated that nearly 30% of basic schools in rural Ghana lack the required number of teachers, leading to issues like multigrade teaching. <\/p>\n

Teacher motivation is often impacted by insufficient professional development opportunities and a perceived lack of adequate remuneration, despite recent efforts to improve conditions. GNAT, as the largest teacher union in Ghana with an estimated membership of over 200,000, plays a critical role in advocating for these systemic improvements<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GNATThe President of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Rev. Isaac Owusu, is advocating for a robust legal framework to enshrine the recent government directive reinstating Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) in basic and secondary schools across the country.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=77215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77215\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}