03 Nov 2021

Government should consider introducing incentives for PTAs says North West Regional Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) chairperson, Mr Lucky Letsapa. 

She said in an interview that the PTA remained the school’s main supportive structure, hence her call for government to appreciate members’ contribution towards the education system. 

He urged the government to consider incentives such as payment of allowances, saying members sacrificed their time to build a strong working relationship between parents, teachers and schools. Mr Letsapa said Village Development Committees (VDCs) members were paid allowances to motivate them and wished the same could be accorded PTA members as they were also voluntarily doing a great job to improve results. 

“We are not public servants, but we are tasked with a huge responsibility to connect and facilitate community participation in schools affairs and we believe allowances can motivate us to do more,” he added. 

Although, he appreciated that regional PTA chairpersons were provided with accommodation, transport and food to attend workshops, that was not enough. 

Some parents, he said were unwilling to sit in PTAs because there were no incentives and would rather opt to sit in VDCs. The chairperson also urged regional directors to work closely with regional PTA chairpersons as they were driving the same mandate. 

Mr Letsapa, who has been in the position for two years, said he was proud that his committee was working wonders as they had brought parents on board to play their rightful role in their children’s education. 

He acknowledged that the North West region had been performing badly, but stated that there had been a significant improvement recently, following their workshops, as the region obtained position seven out of ten regions last year. 

He was hopeful that the region would do better and be amongst the top five. Ends