'Most schools have no budget for what they need'- Importance of NZPTA still relevant despite charity being dissolved

February 12, 2021
Five elementary-age children play during school recess or at a park setting. Playground equipment, slide.

The Parent-Teacher Association, a 50-year-old charity dear to many New Zealand schools, was wound down last year but there are calls for it be revived as schools struggle to meet funding needs.

Once upon a time the PTA was a thriving charity but underfunding and staffing pressure on the organisation brought it to a close.

While some PTAs continue without the guidance of the national body, former president of the charity, Jennifer McLean, says its closure has “left a hole”.

“Most schools have no budget for what they need,” she says, acknowledging fundraising makes up most of the work PTAs do.

The loss of the charity has also made it more difficult for new PTA start-ups.

“It’s left a massive gap in terms of support and understanding for people who want to start new PTAs,” she says.

“I think the biggest loss is the 0800 number that people could call and speak to a person about the first steps they need to take.”

While the New Zealand PTA website still exists, it directs people to resource-only material and has no active links for contact or support.

McLean says the organisation wound down after member numbers dwindled due to “busyness” and in the end it was only herself and the treasurer that remained.

“Because they are volunteers it’s so easy for this to slip way,” McLean says.

While PTAs operate separately to the Ministry of Education, McLean hopes it will step in and help revive the organisation after Education Minister Chris Hipkins commended its work.

“We want New Zealand to be the best place in the world to be a child, and the work of the NZPTA helps to keep families engaged and informed about education issues”, he said in a 2019 letter, welcoming McLean as president.

She acknowledges the PTA would need to reinvent itself if it were to be resurrected.

“It would take turning it into a funded organisation or be supported by the Ministry, which isn’t entirely fair but they do realise the importance of the organisation and what it did,” she says.

McLean says it would help to have the Association centralised as members were spread out across the country, which made it difficult for people to get together and doing so was “using up travel funds”.

The Ministry of Education's Deputy Secretary of Parent Information and Community Intelligence, Rose Jamieson, told 1 NEWS it has a positive view of PTA groups and would support efforts to bring the national body back.

“We haven’t received any proposals to revive a national body. If we did so we would be more than happy to discuss it further,” Jamieson said.

However those wanting more information online about PTAs might think the charity is still active. 

The Ministry website still refers to the NZPTA as a "national body that supports individual parent groups".

Citizens Advice Bureau directs users to the old 0800 number and president's email address. 

Jamieson says the Ministry has "also a created a parents website in consultation with parents, with a range of resources that can help schools engage with their whānau".

Principal of Auckland’s Owairoa Primary School Alan McIntyre says the school has had a PTA since its inception in 1962 and he wouldn’t be without it.

The gala is a much-anticipated annual event at Owairoa Primary School in East Auckland.

“You could never put money on the value of having that good parent-school relationship,” he told 1 NEWS.

He says the school’s PTA has always had “great turnouts” and has achieved fundraising results such as the building of playgrounds as well as a new classroom.

“It’s a great support group in terms of being inclusive,” McIntyre says.

“We try to be a big family here”.

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