Parent–teacher association


A parent–teacher association/organization, or parent–teacher–friend association, is a formal organization comprising parents, teachers and staff that is intended to facilitate parental participation in a school. A parent–teacher–student association additionally invites students to participate and give input.

Australia and New Zealand

In Australia, the function of PTAs is filled by parents and citizens associations, which are governed by both state and national organizational bodies.

India

National Policy on Education, 1986

A 1992 'Program on Action' for the 1986 National Policy on Education encouraged giving pre-eminence to people's involvement, including the association of non-governmental and voluntary efforts.

Government schemes

Government education schemes such as Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan have advocated for community mobilization and involvement. RMSA dictates that every school should have a PTA, School Development Management Committees should co-exist with PTAs and leverage their functions, PTAs should conduct meetings at least once a month and present SDMCs with a register of complaints, suggestions, and actions taken. From 2013 to 2014, 37.54 percent of schools in India had a PTA. A 2010 study suggested that 50% of parents in rural areas and 45% in urban areas were aware of the existence of school PTAs.

State guidelines

Maharashtra

In 1996, the Maharashtra government declared PTAs mandatory for all schools within the state. By 2014, 50% of the schools had a PTA.
State guidelines for PTAs include:
  • The parents of every student shall be members of a PTA
  • The PTA does not interfere in the day-to-day administration of the schools
  • 50% of PTA members should be women
  • The duties of the PTA committee should involve assisting the school in planning and organizing educational programs, monitoring the completion of syllabi, and collecting/presenting information regarding school fees

    Delhi

The government of Delhi made PTAs mandatory in government-aided and private unaided schools. All parents are members of the PTA. Elections should be held every other year, and the PTA should hold a general meeting at least once a year. 78.21% of the schools in Delhi have a PTA.

Madhya Pradesh

Decentralization of school management was promoted through the installation of PTAs under Sarva Siksha Abhiyan. A 2016 government report stated that 25% of parents were aware of the existence of PTAs, 43% of schools had PTAs, and 39% of PTAs met regularly.

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu government policy dictates that PTAs should work towards pupil enrolments and attendance as well as assist in enhancing the quality of teaching and learning.

PTAs in India

A 2010 survey of parents of schoolchildren for the government of India reported that 50% of respondents were aware of PTAs or MTAs and 16% were members.
StateAware of PTA Members of PTA Willing to join PTA
Andhra Pradesh62.520.060.8
Assam55.89.1790.8
Bihar85.026.780.8
Chandigarh70.010.045.0
Haryana22.55.041.4
Himachal Pradesh40.017.136.2
Rajasthan43.39.233.3
Uttar Pradesh10.612.418.2
West Bengal60.015.058.7
All states50.316.255.5

United Arab Emirates

There are plans to organize a PTA in the United Arab Emirates at government schools such as ATHS.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, parent–teacher associations are common and present in the majority of schools. They are sometimes referred to as home school associations. A 2007 NFER study found that 83% of primary schools in England and Wales and 60% of secondary schools had a "PTA or equivalent".
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, PTAs may choose to join Parentkind, which describes itself as "the national charity representing over 13,750 PTAs across England, Wales and Northern Ireland" that seeks "to advance education by encouraging the fullest co-operation between home and school, education authorities, central government and all other interested parties and bodies." Unlike the USA, the fact that a body is called a PTA does not, in itself, imply membership with any national organization. There is a separate, similar body for Scotland entitled "The Scottish Parent Teacher Council".
PTAs are generally not involved in the management of schools – that is a matter for the school governing bodies — but in practice, parents who are active in the PTA will tend to engage in the election of parent representatives.

Japan

History

When the modern school system was introduced to Japan during the Meiji period, the cost of establishing and maintaining each school was considered to be mainly borne by town and village expenses, but school budgets were not necessarily abundant. To reduce the financial and labor burden on school management, many voluntary groups such as Parents Association and Mothers' Association were formed by parents of students attending school and residents of school districts.
Since the Showa 10's, due to the intensification of World War II and the subsequent confusion, group activities had stagnated temporarily. After the end of the war, the activities started again. Activities and movements anticipating the spirit of the later PTA were also attempted across various locations.
In the spring of Showa 21, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers announced the Report of the United States Education Mission to Japan. In the report, ideas that extend to the PTA were presented. In October Showa 27, the Japan Parents and Teachers National Association Formation Conference was held in Tokyo, and the Japan PTA National Assembly was formed.

United States

PTA

In the U.S., PTAs are part of the National Parent Teacher Association, a non-profit organization based in Alexandria, Virginia.
Most public and private elementary and middle schools have either a PTA, a parent–teacher organization, or an equivalent local organization. These organizations also exist, although less frequently, at high schools and preschools. Every person who joins a local PTA automatically becomes a member of both the state's PTA and National PTA. PTA membership – including the number of affiliated units and of individual members – has been declining for several decades.
Today, there are 54 PTA congresses: U.S. states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Europe. There are 23,000 local organizations recognized by the National PTA in the United States.

Programs

  • The Reflections Arts in Education Program is a preschool-12th grade national art contest program, often featuring school-wide displays at schools with PTAs. It was founded in 1969 by Mary Lou Anderson.

    Early history

The National Parent Teacher Association was founded on 17 February 1897, in Washington, D.C., as the National Congress of Mothers by Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst at a meeting of over 2,000 parents, teachers, workers, and legislators. In 1908, the organization changed its name to the National Congress of Mothers and Parent-Teacher Associations..
Alice Birney's original vision coupled with Phoebe Hearst's social and financial assistance came together in a burst of synergy that drew 2,000 people from across the country to discuss the issues affecting their children at a three-day event. The National Congress of Mothers quickly fanned out into a grassroots organization at national, state, and local levels.

History notes

  • In 1908, the organization delegates voted to change its name to the National Congress of Mothers and Parent-Teacher Associations.
  • In 1910, charter and board member, Mary Grinnell Mears, moved that "Founders Day be observed every February 17th of the year…"
  • In 1925, the association adopted the name the National Congress of Parents and Teachers.
  • In 1926, National PTA President Mrs. A. H. Reeve helped set up the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers to function in the District of Columbia and states where separate schools for the races were maintained, so that African-American children might have PTA service. On 7 May, the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers was formed.
  • In 1966, the National PTA registered the terms PTA and Parent-Teacher Association as service marks with the U.S. government.
  • In 1970, the National Congress of Parents and Teachers and the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers —founded by Selena Sloan Butler in Atlanta, Ga.—merged to serve all children.

    Advocacy

The National Congress of Mothers, now known as the National Parent Teacher Association, became a grassroots organization that influenced the local, state, and national levels. Pamphlets written on how to organize "parents' auxiliaries" in public schools and offer suggestions on formation and meeting were distributed. Collections of loaned materials on child-development and parenting skills were made available to parents.
The PTA has helped institute countless changes, from the institution of school lunch and inoculation programs to the institution of child labor laws to the promotion of transportation safety, sex education, and tobacco and alcohol education.
National PTA's Annual Public Policy
National PTA's annual public policy agenda outlines policy priorities and recommendations for Congress. The priorities are selected based on the timeliness of issue, opportunities for National PTA to provide leadership and expertise to Congress, alignment to National PTA's mission and resolution and ability to achieve a meaningful policy change that will produce positive results for children and their families
Examples include: