Pay PTA levies into mainstream accounts-GES

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Feb 14, 2008

THE Ghana Education Service (GES) has directed that all parent-teacher association (PTA) levies of second-cycle schools be incorporated into the mainstream accounts of the schools.
The move, it said, was to ensure transparency in the use of the levies, among other things.
A letter signed by the Director-General of the GES, Mr Samuel Bannerman-Mensah, said, “All PTA levies and related expenditure should be captured in the financial statements of the institutions, even though separate cash books could be kept for easy tracking of data.”
That, it said, implied that the institutional accountant would collect all levies and pay same to the appropriate bank account.
The letter, which was distributed to all heads of senior high schools (SHS), principals of technical institutions and principals of teacher training colleges, said it had come to the notice of the GES management that in some schools PTA levies on students were operated outside the schools’ official accounting records.
“In some worst situations the executives of the PTAs have been the sole signatories to the bank accounts for the operation of the funds,” it explained.
It said since the PTA levy was being treated as a public fund, it should be operated in line with all existing financial regulations, such as passing of supplies through the stores, adding that all approved activities should be directed to the institutional accountant who would initiate the payment process and file all payment vouchers plus appropriate attachments for auditing.
“The head of the institution, with the support of his accountant, will provide the PTA with a situational report at its meetings. The signatories to the bank account for operating levies shall be the headmaster, the accountant and the PTA chairman as automatic member,” it stated.
The letter indicated that all other charges for students’ clothing, textbooks, furniture, among other things, should be passed through the books of accounts and all purchases routed through the stores, and that under no circumstances should desks be created for supplies at the schools for the collection of money against supplies.
It said although management recognised the important role PTAs played in the development of the various institutions, it would not support any head of institution who helped to collect unapproved PTA levies, adding that “laid down procedures should always be followed”.