Bermudez, L. T. (2017). Harnessing and empowering the Parents-Teachers Associationin Calamba National High School towards improved school performance (Unpublished master's thesis). Public Management Development Program, Development Academy of the Philippines.

Public Management Development Program Middle Managers Class Batch 11 Thesis (MMC)--Development Academy of the Philippines.

This re-entry project (ReP) might be thought of as simplistic considering that Parents-Teachers Association (PTAs) have been existing since time immemorial. However, looking into the mandate of the Department of Education (DepEd), one can see the relevance of PTAs today as strong partners of DepEd in the delivery of basic education services. A closer look at this ReP reveals a burning issue that needs to be addressed: PTAs are significant to the mandate of the Department of Education because they can help in providing accessible and quality education for children in basic education. Parents must be co-shares in the responsibility of providing access to quality education in the high school level. However, the Parents-Teachers Association in most schools in the Division of Calamba City are operating only as mere resource generators and partners in improving the physical environment of the schools. Parents' participation is limited because they (parents) are often simply asked to donate or draw out from their own pockets monetary contributions to help in financing projects identified by school heads. Thus, most parent have decided not to attend PTA meetings, anticipating that the school will just ask for contributions during these meetings. In addition, PTAs have not been empowered to decide on projects that can be implemented to improve the performance of the children in the school. The parents' engagement in decision-making activities that boost the students' learning outcomes or school performance have not been fully utilized or maximized. With this realization, this ReP has given the PTA of Calamba National High School a new face. The PTA is now operating as a real partner in the delivery of basic education services such as the improvement of students' performance as well as improving students' attendance, which will contribute to reducing dropout rate in the school. Before fully mobilizing the PTA, the scholar motivated the prospective actors in the project through several capability-building activities as follows: 1. The principal was provided with technical assistance and was continuously coached on management and leadership to enable her to work and collaborate with the PTA as it operates in the school. 2. The teachers underwent a one-day activity on Renewal of Commitment to Service. Its purpose was to win their support and to rekindle their genuine concern for their students. 3. The PTA was also given a team building activity to establish good relationships and develop teamwork between the parents and the teachers. The scholar conducted several meetings and consultations with the project team and other involved in the project to introduce the ReP and to get their inputs on the crafting of PTA bylaws and the Customer Satisfaction Tool. A general Assembly of the PTA was also conducted to get the approval and commitment of the members of the PTA in the four identified PTA initiated projects namely, Project Libreng Sakay, Project CONNECT, Project Vegies, and Project GAWI. The first three are intended to improve the attendance of Students at Risk of Dropping Out (SARDOs) with the purpose of improving their academic performance. Meetings were conducted as a result of the series of monitoring activities that were undertaken to address the problems arising from the implementation of the project such as parents' participation and resource generation. Regular monitoring of students' attendance was also done to find out if the initiated projects addressed students' absenteeism. A significant number of factors contributed in the completion and success of the project. These included the strong support and trust of the Institutional Partner, the untiring cooperation of the Project Team, the involvement of the people for the right tasks, financial support of the stakeholders, and the encouragement of the PMDP Staff and Batch Bagwis. However, not everything went well during project implementation. There were challenges that the Project Manager needed to endure and resolve so as not to derail its implementation. Some of these challenges were assuming the responsibilities of being the OIC-ASDS while also implementing the ReP, the limited budget approved for the implementation of the project, political intervention of the Local Barangay Official, and attending two programs at the same time, namely; the PMDP and the Superintendents' Leadership Program (SLP). While implementing the project, several lessons were learned, unlearned and relearned. There were also practices which were reconsidered and at the same time some were dropped. Some of these significant lessons, which she would forever cherish, are the following: having clear objectives, building the capacity of the persons involved to start and finish the project, cultivating strong and positive relationships as prerequisites in involving people in the project, understanding the importance of proper delegation, reaching out for parents' support, and ensuring success through commitment building. To sustain the implementation of the project even after the three-month implementation, the following were recommended: 1. institutionalization of the engagement of the PTA as partners of the school in improving the performance of the students through the issuance of Division Memorandum, 2. registration of the PTA in the Securities and Exchange Commission, 3. continuous monitoring of the projects even after the 3-month implementation, 4. widening the linkage and network of the PTA to gain more support, 5. conduct of more teambuilding activities for the PTA, 6. creating an Award and Recognition committee shall will award citations to parents and groups of parents to recognize their commitment to improving the performance of students.