PESHAWAR, Oct 16: The NWFP education department is set to undertake an ambitious training programme for the Parent-Teacher Councils, formerly known as Parent-Teachers’ Associations, to improve monitoring of public sector schools, an official said.

The need to provide training was felt because of the important role assigned to the councils comprising parents of students and teachers of public sector schools, especially in accounts and record keeping and monitoring, the official said.

The Education Sector Reform Unit (ESRU) would develop a plan to impart training to the councils in monitoring performance of the government schools and teachers, the official said. The NWFP government wanted to ensure community participation for qualitative and quantitative improvement of primary schools and the Parent-Teacher Associations for each primary school were constituted in 2005, officials said.

The role of the associations was to monitor the performance of the schools and work for the improvement of education and timely completion of development programmes. They could seek help of non-government organisations or government departments in this regard.Lack of training of the associations’ members and lack of awareness about their responsibilities left many PTAs non-functional. So they were strengthened as PTCs with more financial and administrative powers to improve the quality of education, the officials claimed.

The focus of the reforms programme was expanding from equitable access to education by increasing enrolment rate to providing quality education and the councils’ role was vital for it, the officials said.

The education department had issued guidelines to the PTCs regarding their powers and responsibilities but they needed training to be effective, the officials said.