National Parent-Teacher Associations Consultative Council (PIBGN) Chairman Prof Mohamad Ali Hassan said this in response to a recent suggestion from a federal minister that PIBGs carry out mandatory fundraising for schools.
The PTAs, Ali told FMT, are created in every school to look into a student’s discipline, academic and non-academic achievements, safety, security and cleanliness of the school.
Collecting funds for schools, Ali said, were normally conducted on a voluntary basis.
“Why do we have to pick up the bill for school maintenance? The responsibility of maintaining a school cannot be passed on to PTAs.”
His comments are in line with the standards practised in other countries, such as New Zealand, where PTAs are set up as non-profit organisations with the participation of parents, teachers and the whole community where a school is located.
All relevant parties come together to formally discuss areas of interest, to assist the school with activities where parent involvement is required, and to assist the school with fundraising via donations, funding of assets or services, all done voluntarily.
If PTAs in New Zealand want to raise funds for the extras that are deemed necessary for a school, then a “wish list” of ideas from the board, principal or staff is proposed at the start of the year. This helps the PTA plan the fundraising for the rest of the school year.
Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Noh Omar had last week suggested that mandatory fundraising be enforced for schools in Selangor, as government funds for the maintenance of school buildings were insufficient.
Ali went on to point out that there were a lot of schools located in rural and remote areas where parents could not afford to raise funds for schools.
“The government should set aside at least 15 to 20 per cent of the annual budget for the maintenance of schools,” Ali said.
In Budget 2016, announced last October, the Education Ministry received RM41.3 billion.
“If the government cannot allocate at least 15 to 20 per cent of the total budget for school maintenance, the government should work out a plan with government-linked companies (GLCs) to chip in,” Ali said, adding that donations from GLCs could be used to upgrade equipment and facilities in schools.