The Assistant Director in charge of Examination at the Tamale Metropolitan Education Office, Mr. James Dabotah, commended Savana Signatures and GINKS for their contribution in uplifting ICT education in the Northern Region. He cited the recently organised ICT quiz competition for basic schools in Tamale, Savelugu and Pong Tamale and the Inter Schools debate competition organised for Senior High Schools by Savana Signatures as a giant step in the right direction.

The Director of Savana Signatures, Mr. John Stephen Agbenyo welcomed the participants to the seminar and said ICT education was crucial to the development individuals and nations thus the study of ICT as a subject in our schools today. He explained that the workshop was jointly organised by GINKS and Savana Signatures. He urged the participants at the workshop to share the lessons that would be learnt with other PTA’s who are not privileged to be at the seminar.

The Regional Manager of the Catholic Education Unit, Mr. Philip Issahaku, began his presentation by taking participants through how education started in Ghana. He stated that education as a social enterprise, demands efforts and contribution from all stakeholders, especially if education is to benefit the whole society. He added that, communities in the past have played a vital role in the development and provision of education and that many basic schools were originally initiated by communities, which willingly recruited teachers and provided places of learning for their change.

He mentioned that as the schools progressed, they were absorbed into the public school system by government. The ministry of education realising the role parents play in the education of their children, encouraged schools to create partnership between teachers, pupils and district authorities to bring about needed changes. Mr. Issahaku explained that PTA is a voluntary association consisting of parents and teachers in a school or cluster of schools. It is non-governmental, non-sectarian, non-partisan and non-governmental.

He outlined some roles of the PTA to include

• Assisting in the maintenance and repair of school infrastructure
• Providing accommodation and text books to teachers and students.
• Paying regular visits to the schools to monitor children and teachers performance
• Assisting teachers to maintain discipline by reporting lateness truancy etc to school authorities
• Cooperating with other organizations, stakeholders and communities to provide quality education to children.

Mr. Issahaku outlined some factors that should be considered in other for PTA’s to sustain ICT programs/projects in schools to include economic, social, political and Technological factors.
According to him the economic sustainability refers to the ability of a school and community to finance an ICT enabled program over the long-term. And that there is therefore the need for PTA’s to develop multiple channels of financing through community participation.

On the social sustainability, he opined that sustainability can happen only when all those who will be affected by the project directly or indirectly have adequate information about the project and why the schools need such project. The PTA should develop a sense of ownership for the project to ensure its sustainability. He further mentioned that political sustainability on the other hand refers to issues of policy and leadership.

One of the biggest threats to ICT- enabled projects, he said, is resistance to change. If for instance, teachers refuse to use ICTs in their classrooms, then a project on the use of ICTs can hardly take off much less to be sustained over the long term. According to him, teachers must have a clear understating of the project. The Headmaster of the school should be bold enough to ensure that ICT tools are used for the purpose intended and PTA must hold teachers accountable for the security and safety of ICT tools in the school.

He stated that the PTA has little role in choosing technology that will be effective for students over the long term but they can liaise with school authorities to engage/employ the service of a technical person to help in this regard. He urged PTAs to play a major role in infrastructural-related challenges in an ICT project through assisting schools to put up appropriate rooms or buildings for ICT projects. A member of the PTA can also make available to use by the school a room (s) in his/her house.

“Taking into consideration the roles of PTA, it is very possible for PTA’s to work together with schools to sustain ICT projects in schools. This could be achieved through levies, voluntary contribution by parents, NGO’s and the communities at large”, Mr. Issahaku concluded. Also speaking on the same topic, Mr. Dominic Alimbey Dery, a lecturer at the Tamale Polytechnic said that parents’ involvement has a positive impact on student achievement and success in school. He opined that parents’ involvement is not only incremental in the development of the child but also motivates the schools to function at a higher standard by constantly improving practices.

On the role of PTA in sustaining ICT projects in schools, Mr. Dominic said it was important to learn from best practices. He cited the Bolivian model where certain factors such as economic, human and social sustainability were very key. He stated that economic sustainability included regular sustainable contribution made by parents. He also said human sustainability involved organising and promoting training workshops for teachers, students, parents and other community members.

On social sustainability, Mr. Dery explained that this includes involving the entire community from the beginning of the project. He concluded by urging parental involvement in all activities of the school. The participants expressed their gratitude to Savana Signatures and GINKS for organising such an event for them to share knowledge. They pledged to share the information with other PTA members in their schools. They also requested Savana Signatures to respond to their call as and when they call on them to speak during PTA meetings in their schools.

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