Parental Contribution to Their Children’s Education in Public Secondary Schools in Lushoto District Council, Tanzania

Abstract

The study investigated parental contribution to their children’s education in public secondary schools in Lushoto District. The study was guided by two (2) research questions. The study was guided by Epstein’s theory of school family and community partnerships. In this study, the researcher adopted a mixed method approach under which a concurrent embedded design was used. The targeted population were 53 public secondary schools which involved 53 heads of schools, 2160 students, 2160 parents and 486 teachers as well as 1 DSEO making a total population of 4860 respondents found in Lushoto District. The study used probability sampling and non-probability sampling techniques. The sample size comprised6 public secondary schools, 6 heads of schools, 96 teachers, 90 parents, 1 DSEO and 300 students which makes a total of 493 respondents. Information required to answer the research questions in this study was collected using questionnaires and in-depth interview guides. The study found that parents are not assisting their children with homework assignments. It has been found that majority of parents are not regularly attend school meetings to follow-ups their children education. Based on the findings it was concluded that parents have to lend support by taking an interest in the homework that their children bring home and finding the most effective ways to help them with assignments. Parents with their children at schools has to attend school meeting to know the educational progress of their children and to engage themselves to determine their level of understanding. The study recommended that government under the Ministry of Education Science and Technology (MOEST) should make sure that the parents are involved effectively to their children education by assisting their children with homework and heads of schools should encourage parent to attend school meeting to be aware with their children education.