The Role of the Parents-teachers Association (Pta) in the Development of Primary Schools in Esan South Local Government Area of Edo State
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
The objectives of this study are:
- To determine the role-played by the parent teacher association in the primary school system in Esan South Local Government Area in Edo State.
- To find out what are major problems the parents teachers association have been facing
- To assist the impact of the parents teaches association in the primary school system in Esan South Local Government Area in Edo State.
- To find out if the parent teacher association is lacking in its stated role.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Conceptual Framework
Parent’s Teacher’s Association is a voluntary and welfare association of parents and guardians, as well as teachers of a particular school. In some countries, this association of parents and teachers is called by other names. Irrespective of whatever name it is known in different countries, the objectives of Parent’s -Teacher’s Associations (P.T.As) is essentially the same. The promotion of such understanding and co-operation between the teachers and parents, as would make it possible for each party to contribute towards the creation of a conducive atmosphere that will facilitate the process of learning and teaching in schools. (Okeke 2004).
Parent’s -Teacher’s Association (P.T.A.) is a familiar phrase in the present day secondary school educational system in Nigeria. The PTA is a formal establishment in the school system which is made up of parents whose children are currently registered as students in the school, together with teachers in the school. The aim of the PTA is to enhance the collective participation of parents and teachers in the education of children (Garry, 2007). According to Onderi and Makori (2013), PTA provide a link through which parents and the rest of community assumes a partnership responsibility and in that way participate in the education of their children. The Federal Republic of Nigeria in its National Policy on Education (FRN, 2013:55) recognized the importance of parents in the school management when it stated that “the local people particularly parents will be encouraged to participate in school management”.
The position of Parent’s-Teacher’s Association in our present educational system can only be fully appreciated when viewed from a historical perspective. Before the Nigerian civil war in 1967, there was no Parent-Teachers Association in our schools, at least not as they presently exist. The Parent-Teachers Association where it existed at all, was a very informal organization without any structure, constitution nor officers. In fact, it existed and operated as occasional informal invitation of some parents by school authorities, to the schools annual event such as Sport Day, Prize Giving Day, Speech Day, or school’s feast or Foundation Day. Before the civil war, most of the schools were owned and managed by different Christian missionary bodies as well as private individuals. Before the civil war, almost all the schools both primary and secondary as well as teachers training institutions were owned by the missionaries and some philanthropic individuals who were responsible for the appointment, discipline, promotion as well as termination of teachers. The school proprietors received grants-in-aid from the government to help them in the running of schools. Another source of revenue available to school proprietors were fees of different types which were charged to the pupils. With the money realized from all these sources, they paid the teachers, equipped the school and defrayed other sundry expenses incurred in the day to day running of the schools (Okeke, 2004).
Under the auspices of the P.T.A., parents have come to appreciate that the process of educating their children is a responsibility they will jointly share with the teachers. Iwuanyanwu (2006) opined that teachers on the other hand are made to accept the fact that parents have not only a duty, but also a right to take active part in discussing and taking decision on all the facts or aspects of the education of their children. The place of PTA in the administration of schools has been a topic of research and discussion by individuals and groups of people in different work of life. So many works and publications from Nigeria and other parts of the world on the issue of the influence of PTA on the management of schools. In an attempt to identify the influence of PTA in the administration of schools, it is not sufficient for one to exchange most of the available source of the related literature no matter how detailed one’s work may be. There is a common knowledge that PTA carries out a major place in the administration of school in the state.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
In this chapter, we described the research procedure for this study. A research methodology is a research process adopted or employed to systematically and scientifically present the results of a study to the research audience viz. a vis, the study beneficiaries.
Research Design
Research designs are perceived to be an overall strategy adopted by the researcher whereby different components of the study are integrated in a logical manner to effectively address a research problem. In this study, the researcher employed the survey research design. This is due to the nature of the study whereby the opinion and views of people are sampled. According to Singleton & Straits, (2009), Survey research can use quantitative research strategies (e.g., using questionnaires with numerically rated items), qualitative research strategies (e.g., using open-ended questions), or both strategies (i.e. mixed methods). As it is often used to describe and explore human behaviour, surveys are therefore frequently used in social and psychological research.
Population of the Study
According to Udoyen (2019), a study population is a group of elements or individuals, as the case may be, who share similar characteristics. These similar features can include location, gender, age, sex or specific interest. The emphasis on study population is that it constitutes individuals or elements that are homogeneous in description.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
This chapter presents the analysis of data derived through the questionnaire and key informant interview administered on the respondents in the study area. The analysis and interpretation were derived from the findings of the study. The data analysis depicts the simple frequency and percentage of the respondents as well as interpretation of the information gathered. A total of hundred and twenty (120) questionnaires were administered to respondents of which 100 were returned. The analysis of this study is based on the number returned.
From the responses obtained as expressed in the table above, 60 respondents constituting 60% said yes. 20 respondents constituting 20% said no. While the remain 20 respondents constituting 20% were undecided.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary of Findings
The findings of this study can be summarized as follow:
(A) Principals considered the PTAs as contributing towards improving plant management in secondary schools to a little extent. In addition, male and female principals did not differ significantly with regards to the extent of the PTA contributions in school plant maintenance. In other words both male and female principals shared similar views on the issue. This indicates that the PTAs appear not to have contributed much to the provision of bore holes, sponsorship of seminars and enlightenment programmes, equipping of libraries with books, provision of office equipment and items of stationery, maintenance of toilets, sustenance of power supply, and provision of school vehicle.
(B) PTAs contribute to the construction of toilets, provision of sports facilities, donation of school prizes and generating sets, maintenance of school buildings, and building of blocks of classrooms and school halls.
(C) The PTAs contribute in the provision of some school plant facilities, their contributions in the maintenance and sustenance of the school plant thus provided is very little.
Conclusion
It was found in this study that the P.T.As contribute to raising the moral tone of the school to a moderate extent. No significant difference existed between the mean ratings of male and female principals, indicating that both group of principals considered the PTA to have contributed moderately in raising the moral tone of the school. Specifically, The PTA was considered useful in reporting students caught at cyber cafes during schools to the principal, participating in developing school rules and regulations, reporting teachers that collect illegal levies or request bribery from students, and ensuring that students are always properly dressed. Other areas of their contributions are accepting punishment of their children in good faith, honouring staff invitations to discuss their children’s misbehaviour, and insisting that their children repeat classes upon poor performance. This finding is encouraging because it shows that parents cared about their students’ moral standards and discipline.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations were made:
- The State Ministry of Education in edo State should formulate relevant policies to compel school PTA to be more useful to school management.
- The PTA and educational administrators should make concerted efforts to improve and sustain the contributions of the PTA in raising schools’ moral tones.
- Government should implement some important incentives such as publication of names of school PTAs that demonstrate outstanding contributions to the administration of secondary education, in order to motivate other school PTAs.
- Principals and teachers should encourage good rapport between them and the PTA.
REFERENCES
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- Abdullah, S.U. (1996).The role of Parents –Teacher Association as an instrument of community participation in education.
- Abdulkareem, A.Y. & Oduwaiye, R. O. (2011).Institutional governance and control of education in Nigeria.In F. Omotosho, A.A, Agagu&O.Abegunde (Eds,),Governance, politics and policies in Nigeria.An essay in honor of Prof Dipo Kolawole (pp. 389 404).Porto Novo: SONOU d’ Afrique
- Aderomo, P. (1980). Sources of educational financing in Nigeria: A strategic menufor the 21st Century. In Oriafo, S and Gbenedio, U. (Eds.) Towards education in Nigeria for the 21st century. Benin City: University of Benin Press. Pp. 129 145.
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