The scenario of “parents involvement” in government primary schools in Lalbag

Abstract

The role of a parent in raising and educating a child is immense. And teacher plays a key role in his formal education. Therefore, both parents and teachers play an important role in its overall development. So a balanced relationship between the teacher and the guardian is needed between these two groups. And the school authority has a vital role to play to ensure parent’s participation in school-related activities. Many researchers validate this parents-teachers relationship. There has not been much research in our country on the scenario of parental involvement in a government primary school. The study was conducted to find out how parents in Lalbagh Educational Thana, are involved with government primary schools. This study focuses on Epstein’s (1987, 1992) Theory of Overlapping Spheres of Influence. This is a qualitative research. The study was conducted with information from the interview of three headteachers, six asst. teachers and focus group discussion with 36 parents of three government primary schools. There “mother’s meetings” were also observed silently in those three schools All the participants were agreed that parent’s involvement is necessary for the growth and development of child and school. And they also mentioned that the frequency and quality of communication need to increase. The headteachers and asst. teachers assured that they have a guideline for parent’s involvement and they try to maintain this. But, parents mentioned that the communication is mostly about the exams and fees or fundraising. Parents have limited scope to express their opinion, they just come to hear the announcement. In addition, only influential parents can be involved in SMC and PTA. Parents also showed their concern regarding the frequency of Home visits that teachers are supposed to make regularly. However, teachers have claimed that the relationship with parents is increasing. Especially teachers and parents are communicating with each other on mobile phones. Hopefully the better this relationship is, the more parents will be involved in schoolwork, the more effective role it will play in the growth of the children.