Lack of parental involvement in the education of their children in the foundation phase: case of selected schools in the Thabazimbi circuit

Abstract

This research study was conducted in a semi-urban area that falls under Thabazimbi Local Municipality. In this area, most of the parents work on farms and are mostly unavailable when requested to come to school or participate in any program that might assist in terms of the academic progress of their children. The rate of absenteeism is increasing each school year and learners end up dropping out. From an experience perspective, most of the parents indicate that they are not well equipped in terms of the new curriculum which requires a high level of educational experience. Teachers must discourage parents from this belief and motivate them to do better for their children. The study addresses the identified gaps and provides solutions in terms of parents’ participation in their children’s education. The study differentiates the roles of parents and teachers, identifies challenges, indicates how parents can be motivated and developed to embrace the educational plans of their children as early as during the foundation phase, outlines the analysis and presents recommendations. The researcher used a qualitative approach in order to complete the research. The research is based on imperative and pertinent methods. Three foundation phase educators, three foundation phase HODs, three principals as well as nine parents or guardians of foundation phase learners from three primary schools in the Thabazimbi Circuit participated in the study. Data was gathered through formal, semi-structured, one-on-one interviews with the participants and questionnaires. The study focused on three main themes that were broken down into sub-themes and the main issues that emanated from these. The first theme was established on the roles of parental participation. As the child’s first learning environment is their home, the responsibility of educating learners is shared between parents and teachers. The second theme was based on challenges experienced by schools with a lack of parental participation. The third theme was established on how different structures can help to motivate parents to embrace educational opportunities and support their children during all the phases of their education and the measures that can be implemented in Thabazimbi Circuit schools. The findings are: Parental participation is extremely important for a child to do well in school. Parents need to be assisted to understand what parental participation is. Parental illiteracy was prevalent among most parents. Recommendations (i) From the conclusions drawn above, it is recommended that partnerships among families, teachers, and community members are needed. Parents need to change and prioritise education at all costs. (ii) The DBE should organise workshops for parents to induct them on how to participate and contribute towards their children’s education. (iii) Cooperation and collaboration of all stakeholders are needed to address the issue of illiteracy, there can be walk-in centres where parents can be taught how to read and write.