Dwindling numbers!

 

Public Relations Officer of the Barbados National Parent-Teacher Association (BNPTA), Donna Sealy says there has been a falloff in the number of parents attending PTA meetings. Therefore, she is calling on more parents and guardians to attend these gatherings. 

 

Her comments came while speaking to The Barbados Advocate in The City on Saturday. This was one of the stops made by BNPTA executive members and members of the Transport Board’s marketing during the joint ‘Get On Board’ initiative. The group was also joined by President of the Barbados Union of Teachers, Pedro Shepherd.

The Get On Board initiative was aimed at raising the public’s awareness of the BNPTA and its role, as well as educating them about the routes of the school bus service. The other stops made included: Oistins, Sheraton Mall, Sky Mall, Super Centre Warrens and Speightstown.

 

“From checks at some of the schools, the numbers are dwindling in terms of the parents. Parents don’t come, but PTAs can do a lot more to actually get parents to come. So we are imploring people to actually get on board with the PTA, with the school [and] with the Transport Board,” it was pointed out. Sealy explained that one of the reasons given by individuals for not attending PTA meetings was that they are “boring”. She however encouraged parents to make suggestions to the PTA’s executive committee of how they can make it more interesting for them. 

 

“As I said or I keep saying to people as I meet them, the PTA meeting can be as boring as you want it to be. If your executive committee is not doing what excites you, tell them, make them do something that will excite you. Have Zumba [for instance], there is nothing to say that you can’t have Zumba at a PTA meeting. You can have a health fair [and] you can have a make-up artist. You can do a range of things to actually get parents to come out to the meeting. Some people don’t like talking, you can have developmental programmes and you can have lectures on topical issues,” Sealy further noted.

 

To the PTAs executive committees, Sealy urged them not to give up in their effort to gain membership. She also underscored the significance of the PTA to the school.

“They are important and parents must understand that when they do go to a PTA meeting, usually the principal or a senior teacher or the deputy principal is there and they can ask them questions or raise their concerns and more often than not, the principal is quite willing to answer [their queries],” she explained.