FG outlaws Benin PTA

The Ministry of Education yesterday issued a statement banning the Parent- Teacher Association (PTA) of the Federal Government Girls College (FGGC) Benin, Edo State indefinitely over what it called alleged gross misconduct, lawlessness and outright usurpation of the federal government’s powers.

The proscription takes immediate effect.

The ministry also directed all principals and administrators of federal unity colleges not to ‘have anything whatsoever’ to do with the National Association of ParentTeacher Associations of Federal Government Colleges (NAPTAFGC), an umbrella body of PTA of the colleges. It said the national body had no other source of funding than taxing parents, describing it as superfluous, illegal and an unnecessary financial burden on parents.

The ministry’s Deputy Director, Press, Ben Bem Goong, said the minister, Malam Adamu Adamu, banned the association because it ordered parents to pay fees other than what was approved by the government.

He said NAPTAFGC had allegedly organized and promoted mass protests in some schools on resumption day over what it called a 300% increase in school fees of colleges. He added that PTA development levies which earlier ranged from N2, 500 to N75, 000 depending on the school, were out rightly cancelled, while N7, 000 was added to boarding fees to enhance the feeding of students.

He said the rumour that parents were withdrawing their wards from the colleges over fee hike was untrue.