PTA (Part 2)

Jeez! It’s not an easy night with the PTA. They’re impressed with the drive from the Directors to push on for school uniforms, but this time they have other issues which i don’t believe belong in a PTA forum. Hell! Tonight they have to prepare for the up-coming Annual General Meeting. And the Ginger Warrior (who is hosting tonight on the Secondary campus) has to keep reminding them of this.Nonetheless they are all the questions i’ve been asking. Health and Safety and Resources.

Both myself and Ginger Warrior are prepared, upfront and honest. We inform parents that we have agreed in SMT for an external Health and Safety auditor to be called in to inspect both campuses and HR are now looking for suitable local auditors. I speak passionately about my desire to bring in teaching resources into the Primary school, and assure them that Finance had taken a solemn oath to assist me in making it happen. We’re just waiting for Finance to sort out our budgets. Always publicly release a shared agreement if you want it to happen.

Both Dr No (Finance) and smarmy Mr A (Human Resources) are present again (this is clearly a 3 line whip from The Boss), and skulking even further in the corner than they were last time. If it wasn’t apparent before, parents can clearly see where the stumbling block may lie.

Poor Ms J still remains the PTA secretary and later, after the meeting around 8pm, she informs me these have been brought up since the PTA were inaugurated almost two years ago, and they remain unanswered and/or unresolved. The School of Inertia as it festers and rots.

The parents have a right to ask these questions and clearly have no other forum. They pay good fees – there should be entitled to at least decent resources – not non-existent ones. There should be full transparency in any educational institution, but this is Ethiopia and stuff is very different here.