GNAT calls for legal backing to protect reinstated PTAs

• Posted on July 21, 2025July 21, 2025
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The President of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Rev. Isaac Owusu, has called for the establishment of a strong legal framework to secure the recent reinstatement of Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) in basic and secondary schools across the country.

His appeal follows the government’s directive, announced by the Ghana Education Service (GES) on Thursday, July 17, 2025, reinstating PTAs in all pre-tertiary institutions. The move, directed by President John Dramani Mahama, reverses a 2019 policy under the previous administration that suspended PTAs and banned compulsory PTA levies, replacing them with weaker “Parent Associations” (PAs) as part of the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme.

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Addressing journalists at the opening of the “Teaching Together” workshop — a joint initiative between GNAT and the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) — at the GNAT Institute for Research and Industrial Relations in Abankro, Rev. Owusu stressed that the reinstatement must be backed by law to ensure its sustainability.

Rev. Owusu noted that GNAT has long championed the revitalisation and institutionalisation of PTAs, describing them as critical platforms for fostering collaboration between parents and teachers to enhance school management and improve learning outcomes.

President Mahama had earlier, in June 2025, criticised the earlier suspension of PTAs as “unacceptable” and pledged their full restoration as part of his broader education reforms.

According to Rev. Owusu, the restoration of PTAs “effectively returns the management of schools to the community,” adding that any future reversal would represent a significant setback to inclusive governance in education.

He emphasized the need for Parliament to “enact legislation that offers legal protection to PTAs, preventing future governments from arbitrarily dismantling or sidelining them.”

Such a legislative measure, he argued, would provide the stability and long-term assurance needed for PTAs to make meaningful and sustained contributions to school development.