The organisation says many School Management Committees (SMCs) and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) do not adequately understand their responsibilities in managing and maintaining schools, contributing to the deterioration of facilities in some communities.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ engagement forum in Tongo, the District Field Officer for School for Life’s Citizen-Led Action for Educational Accountability and Responsiveness in Ghana (CLEAR) project, Dorcas Zoogah, said community participation was essential to sustaining investments in education.
“The school is for the SMCs and the PTA, but we realize that most of them don’t even understand their roles and responsibilities,” she said.
Mrs Zoogah questioned why parents and community leaders would expect the District Assembly to undertake every minor repair after providing school infrastructure, particularly when other communities were still struggling to secure basic educational facilities.
“If assembly is able to provide a school and then a door breaks and you still expect assembly to come and fix the door, how? When others are also there that need even a school,” she asked.
She explained that the Talensi District has more than 100 schools, making it difficult for the Assembly to address all infrastructure and furniture needs simultaneously.
According to her, communities must therefore develop a stronger maintenance culture to protect existing facilities and ensure that limited resources can be directed towards schools with more pressing needs.
“Assembly is doing their best. They are sharing chairs, furniture to schools. If they share furniture to you, it is your responsibility, the parents, teachers and students to keep the chairs well because it is not able to reach all the schools,” she said.
Mrs Zoogah observed that some concerns raised by parents during the forum reflected responsibilities that communities themselves could help address.
“You bring a question and say your door, your gates. it boils back to them again,” she said.
She stressed that improving education delivery required shared responsibility among the District Assembly, GES, headteachers, SMCs, PTAs and parents.
The CLEAR Project Field Officer called for more education on the roles and responsibilities of school management bodies to help communities distinguish between challenges requiring government intervention and minor maintenance issues they could address locally.
The stakeholders’ forum, organised by School for Life in collaboration with GES, brought together parents and representatives of communities across Talensi to discuss challenges affecting education delivery and the responsibilities of the various stakeholders.
School for Life has been implementing the CLEAR project in 10 communities in the district since 2022, with the aim of strengthening citizen participation and accountability in education.
A1 Radio | 101.1 MHz | David Azure | Talensi
