NPTA: Parents need to be more involved in their children's education

NATIONAL Council of Parent Teacher Association (NPTA) president Walter Stewart says parents need to be more involved in their children's education to improve their academic performance.

He made this comment during a virtual meeting held by the Parliament's Social Services and Public Administration Joint Select Committee (JSC) on January 29.

Stewart told committee members and other education stakeholders involved in the meeting the level of interest parents take in their children's education has an influence on their academic performance.

While the NPTA had no statistical data to support this, he said, anecdotal evidence the association has seen over time shows children doing better in school when their parents are more involved in their education, from early childhood to secondary school.

Stewart said, "The issue is really a clear one."

JSC chairman Independent Senator Dr Paul Richards said parents of students attending denominational schools appear to participate in activities such as parent-teacher meetings more than the parents of children at government-assisted schools.

Stewart agreed this was a fair observation.

He said the timing of parent-teacher association (PTA) meetings at some government-assisted schools had been identified by parents as a problem because they cannot get time off from work to attend.

Stewart added some of them work in government jobs. To address this problem, he said government workers should get compensatory time off to attend PTA meetings.

Stewart also suggested there should be a legal alignment between the NPTA and PTAs in government schools so the former could provide assistance to the latter.

In response to questions from Chaguanas East MP Vandana Mohit, NPTA first vice-president Zena Ramatali said the association is pleased with the quality of meals the School Feeding Programme is providing to students.

Stewart said there are some parents who are not aware of the work done by the NPTA, and the association is planning a programme to better educate them about its work.