Parental involvement in rural schools in the Northern Province

[摘要] ENGLISH SUMMARY: Rural schools in South Africa are faced with many problems such as poor family relations, lackof facilities and resources and poor motivation on the side of teachers and students. Against thisbackground, this study addresses many of these problems. This investigation explores parentalinvolvement in rural schools in black communities.The literature study investigates barriers to parent involvement as well as ways and types ofparental involvement. A historical perspective as well as theoretical perspective on parentinvolvement in education as well as legislation concerning education and parental involvementaccording to official documents are also discussed. The main contribution of this study isqualitative investigation of parental involvement in three schools i. e. a secondary school, a highprimary school and a lower primary school, in the rural areas of the Northern Province. Data wascollected by means of interviews with parents and teachers. Data is analysed, discussed andsynthesised.The major findings emerged are the following:•Many parents are uninterested and negative towards the school;•they have limited time;•there is total separation between the school and the parents: and•lack of implimentation of ideas by teachers on parental involvement.As such both teachers and parents need workshops on the issues of parental involvement. It isthe duty of the school to lead parents in their involvement in the education of their children.Parents are the primary educators of their children and there should always be a close contactbetween the school and the community.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University