Effectiveness of Parent Teacher Council in the Management of Public Schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract

The study was aimed to find the effectiveness of Parent Teacher Council in the management of public schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The major objectives of the study were to critically analyse the existing Parent Teacher Council (PTC) of public schools of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and to examine the involvement and effectiveness of PTC in the management of public schools of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The study was delimited to Government High schools (GHS) and Government Higher Secondary schools (GHSS) (both male and female) of KP. Total number of Government High Schools and higher secondary schools (both male and female) in KP were 2514. The population of the study was all the PTC members, Chairmen/Chairpersons and Head teachers of the Public schools (male and female) of KP i.e 20112 respondents. It was mixed method research, both quantitative and qualitative data was collected, questionnaire and structured interview guide were used for data collection. District Peshawar and district Swabi was taken as sample for data collection. Multi stage random Sampling Technique was used for quantitative data collection from 384 respondents. Five points Likert scale Questionnaire was used as a tool for quantitative data collection from the respondents, while structured interview guide was used to collect small scale qualitative data from 190 respondents in the second phase about the main areas which were identified during the quantitative phase of the study. The questionnaires were validated by experts and administered to 40 respondents for pilot testing, the Cronbach Alpha was found 0.869 which showed the validity of the instrument. Data was collected either by personal visits or by sending questionnaires to one of the teachers of the concerned school. For the purpose of getting in-depth information about the infra-structure and work procedure of PTAs/PTCs of other countries, different research studies and handbooks were studied. More over some parents and teachers of abroad countries were contacted through emails and social media. Quantitative data were analysed xvi by applying percentage and Chi square through SPSS, while qualitative data collected, were analysed by making themes from the responses. The major findings are, majority of the respondents believe that PTC members are elected by a proper way through election, so there is no political or other external interference in this selection. Head teachers had the opinion that PTC members do not help them in school administration while 65% PTC members claimed that they help school administration. It was found that there is no schedule for proper training of PTC members and Chairmen/Chairpersons, though PTC meetings are held on regular basis. Parent Teacher Council was found effective to some extent, however some suggestions were sought out to make the PTC more effective in the management of schools. Some changes in the organizational structure and in working procedure were suggested. Since long education is the key of social upgradation, global development personal and social well-being. For the said purpose there should be a strong and sustainable school system to ensure that all children get quality education for the future. As Parent-Teacher Council plays a pivotal role in achieving quality education of any state. Main recommendations were, that more and more professional development facilities such as separate budget for the training aspect of the functionaries of PTC, should be provided to the school principals so that they are able to discharge their duties as secretary of the PTCs effectively. Remuneration per meeting should be allowed to all participants of the PTC meeting. As PTC is the council of Parents and Teachers, hence 2 or 3 teachers should also be selected as PTC members from the teaching staff of the concerned school. At least one meeting in a year of the chairmen/chairperson along with PTC members should be arranged with the Executive District Officer (EDO), it will provide an opportunity to the chairmen/chairpersons to discuss school related problems directly to the EDO, and this meeting will also motivate the chairmen in taking keen interest in the management of school and all other activities of PTC