Former Education Minister Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum has pushed back against the Mahama-led government’s claim of reinstating Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) in public schools, insisting that the NPP never scrapped them.
Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Dr. Adutwum clarified that PTAs have remained functional, with many schools continuing to collaborate with parents on matters of student welfare, discipline, and school development.
His comments follow a July 17, 2025 announcement by the Ghana Education Service (GES) on the “reintroduction” of PTAs, based on a directive from President John Mahama. According to the GES, the decision was aimed at deepening collaboration between parents, teachers, and the wider school community to enhance the quality of education.
But Dr. Adutwum said the claim of reinstatement is misleading. He explained that what was suspended under the previous administration was the enforcement of PTA levies that often resulted in students being barred from examinations due to unpaid dues.
“What we did was to regulate certain charges that were being used to extort money from parents under the guise of PTA levies. The PTA structure itself was not banned,” he explained.
He further noted that the body was simply renamed a Parents Association (PA), as teachers were no longer officially part of the arrangement.
Dr. Adutwum called on the Mahama-led administration to be honest in its communication on education reforms, urging the government not to create the impression that PTAs had been scrapped under the NPP.
Some schools, he said, have continued PTA activities uninterrupted, including meetings and collaborative initiatives.
Listen to Dr. Adutwum in the audio attached above:
Gertrude Otchere
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