The Involvement of Parents in the Education of their Children in Zimbabwe’s Rural Primary Schools: The Case of Matabeleland North Province.

Abstract

The study sought to explore the schools' involvement of parents in their children's education. It adopted a qualitative case study design. Data were generated from 15 primary school teachers, who were purposively sampled from three primary schools (five teachers per school). The five teachers from each school formed three focus groups. The data were triangulated by interviewing each of the three school heads from schools where teachers were sampled. Major findings were that: participants understood the meaning of parental involvement; they were aware of the benefits accruing from such an involvement; in their respective schools they were making attempts to involve parents; a number of barriers limited the effective involvement of parents. The study concluded that while teachers were aware of the benefits of parental involvement, levels of parental involvement were low. Recommendations to enhance involvement include strengthening home-school ties; equipping schools with the necessary resources to enable them to involve parents in more meaningful ways; exploring other avenues of communicating with parents and sensitising parents on the need to be actively involved in the education of their children. Key terms: parental involvement, education, children, rural primary schools.