Parental involvement and the quality of education in government-aided primary schools in Jinja city, Uganda

Abstract

This study examined the level of parental involvement and the effect it has on the quality of education in government-aided primary schools in Jinja City. The study objectives were to; establish the extent to which parents’ support for a child’s learning influences the quality of education, examine whether parents’ support for school development influences the quality of education, assess the effect of parents’ participation in the running of the school on the quality of education provided by government-aided primary schools of Jinja City. Using across-sectional survey, data was collected from 76 teachers, 3 head teachers and 7 parents on SMCs using a structured questionnaire and focus group discussion guide. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, regression and content analysis. With regard to extent to which parents’ support for a child’s learning and how it influences the quality of education, the relationship was not significant (r =-.004, P>0.01) as well as the influence (β =-.108, p> 0.05). for parents were not receiving enough opportunity to understand what they are supposed to do to support their children’s education. It was revealed that a small positive, significant relationship (r =262, P<0.05) existed between parents’ support for school improvement, though the influence (β =-.108, p> 0.05) was not significant. This is due to the fact that parents felt there were limited efforts by schools to get and even listen to their views on how they wanted the schools to be It was further found out that a positive and significant relationship existed between parents’ participation in the running of the school on the quality of education (r=.43, P<0.01) and quality of education and the influence was significant (β =.616, p<0.05). The three parental involvement factors that were explored contributed (β =, p<.05) about 21.8 % to quality education. Generally, this contribution came from participation in the running of the school. Parents did not feel empowered to participate in the education of their children and felt that the primary education was motivated by political agendas and self-interest instead of genuine attempts to improve the lives of the people. Parents gave schools very little support and schools struggled on their own to achieve their intended outcomes. MOES must innovate strategies to allow a high degree of organized representation, accessibility, and openness for all parents in the education of their children and to actively contribute ideas for the common good of primary education. Further research is recommended to examine the awareness of parents on the role in the education of their children.