SELECTION & WORKING OF PTA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

A communication is sent by the principal through the circular to inform the parents about the formation of Parents Teachers Association. Through this circular the school notifies all parents to nominate themselves for the position of representatives.

Ideally within 30 days of commencement of the new session the PTA Executive Committee should be formed with full transparency in the procedure. Draw system to be adopted to elect the committee members in case of too many entries. Kindly remember that minimum 50% of the members should be women. The school must display the list of PTA Executive Committee on their website.

The selection procedure may also include group discussion and an interview round. This interview can be conducted by a committee including School Principal, Vice Principal & senior teachers.

STRUCTURE OF PTA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The duration of service for PTA Executive Committee lasts for one year. New elections are held as the new academic session commences.

Below mentioned are the posts required to form an Executive Committee-

President/Chairman - Principal/Head Mister

Vice President/V Chairman–One from Parent community

Secretary - One from Teachers

Joint Secretary (2) – Both amongst Parents

Member - One Parent and One Teacher from every standard (Grade Representatives or Class Representatives)

WHO SHOULD NOMINATE THEMSELVES FOR EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE?

1. If you are a parent or guardian of a student enrolled in the school for at least one year.

2. You understand the school functioning and find a scope of improvement which you would like to share with the school.

3. Can give a patient listening to the concerns of other parents and try to resolve with the help of the school.

4. If you have a passion about creating a better system for students, school and parents involved.

5. If you have good communication skills and can present concerns of other parents in a rational way to the school.

6. If you can take out time to attend PTA Executive Committee meetings which are held on every quarter and are also available for last minute meetings in case of urgent issues.

7. An additional qualification can be the knowledge of various rules and regulations pertaining to institutions and education for children.

ROLE OF PTA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

1.Role of PTA Executive Committee is to provide a common ground for the parents and school authorities to discuss their opinions about various decisions and policies which can help in the development of the school

2. It is advisable to create an annual plan comprising of various ideas and agendas to be picked up in a particular academic here. The Executive Committee can interact with various parents to note down their agendas and make a list of most important ones which can be proposed further to the school authorities.

3. It is important that this Committee keeps sharing appropriate information with the school administration and board of trustees as and when required and should not withhold any important information which would hamper the process of development of the school. The PTA Executive Committee should remember that they’re not only representatives of the parent community but also a reliable partner to the school authorities.

4. The Committee should also remember that bigger agendas should be brought on the table for discussions and not only personal grievances. The forum is to bring positive change in the system and not a system of finding faults.

5. Here I mention some important agendas to be taken up by the Executive Committee: syllabus completion on time, support provided for children who need extra support, inclusion of co- scholastic programs sufficiently & resolution of concerns faced by teachers and parents on day-to-day basis.

Every parent is a member of Parent Teacher Association and can support school in planning and organizing educational programs as and when required. They may also conduct programs to express their gratitude towards the teachers and the school management. The Executive Committee meeting must be conducted once in three months. Apart from this a General Body Meeting (open to all the parents of the school) must be conducted once before 15 August of every year.

As per the current scenarios among schools, the working of PTA is not very effective. Not many parents come up to hold the positions and make an effort to bring out the real agendas for the betterment of the school. It is the responsibility of the school to encourage its parents to form a strong PTA General Body and Executive Committee to help form a better system.

Author - Ms Nandita Prakash

And Educationist with an experience of more than 17years of educating & grooming teachers, students & parents. Education Advisor to various institutions in Northern India