AN OVERVIEW OF PARENTAL PARTICIPATION AND INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION AND PUPILS ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
INTRODUCTION
Each pupil in the primary school in Uyo Local Government Area is dependent on either biological parents or external care-giver in terms of feeding, clothing, healthcare, educational care and moral training. Parental undertakings on children cannot be over-emphasized because it takes much time, energy and various resources to bring-up a child. Parental participation in the childs education refers to the parts played by parents to supporting a child’s education. In such ways, parents become partakers of the child’s educational upliftment. Participation involves sharing responsibilities by contributing meaningfully toward a particular venture or development (Bepo, 2004).
Concepts of Parental Involvement
Parental involvement in pupils educational progress could be referred to as the total undertaking by parents to support children’s education. Besides an award of scholarship to pupils, it is the sole responsibility of parents to sponsor their children’s education from childhood and beyond. Involvement entails many things such as provision of educational needs to their children in order to motivate them towards effective learning. Lambert (2002) asserted that children learn faster and seriously when motivated by their teachers or parents. When pupils perform highly in terms of academics, their parents are proud of them. Glover (2003) postulated that there is a great deal of competition in the present day education for children. Since primary school pupils are totally dependent on their parents, their ability to withstand academic challenges would depend on the extent of their parental support in all ramifications.
Â
Parents Participation in Pupils Academic Achievement
           Education planners and experts considered it very necessary to advocate, introduce and implement joint partnership of teachers and parent toward academic upliftment of children in public schools. According to Denga (2001), the school failed during the past three decades in understanding problems that faced little children in the school settings because parents did not participate in children education other than providing them with financial, material, moral and social needs. In another contribution, Agioba (2001) explained that the introduction of Parents-Teachers Association in the Public School settings was to give parents the liberty and opportunity to share in children’s educational development. Parents understand their children than the school teachers. Teachers do not comprehensively meet social and emotional need of the children in the classroom. Participation of the parents in the affairs of the school has, for some years now, yielded a high level of the desired solution.
Motivation of the pupils is an important stimulant that could engenda high academic performance. Parents are responsible for motivation of pupils. Effiom (2008) noted that many parents are aware of the importance of child motivation and its resultant effects on pupils academic achievement. Parents appreciate pupils who perform highly in examinations. But pupils who do not perform as expected by their parents usually feel unaccepted. Rejection by parents due to pupils examination failure could affect the affected pupils emotionally, physically, socially, and psychologically. Parental rejection may reduce the affected pupils academic efforts toward higher academic success.
Parents place their full trust in the school teachers and it is the reason why parents entrust their children under the care and guidance of the school. Children are precious treasure to parents, family and the society. Gage and Berliner (2001) submitted that parental efforts in ensuring that their children attend school daily is encouragement toward their children’s future life preparation. This indicates parents participation educationally. Keeler (2006) expressed that some parents are educated upto the level which they can read and write intensive supervision of pupils’ daily works in the school are checked and questioned where the pupils do not perform creditable. Many educated parents show serious concern in assessing their children’s work books daily. Brilliant pupils are appreciated while dull learners are blamed according to the level of academic deficiency. In this method, the parents personally play personal roles in ensuring that their children are adapted to classroom lessons accurately.
Parents are the first teachers that propel the child’s education during infanbood. According to Cummins (2002), parents play the roles of the child’s first teachers or educators at home. It is the place of the parents to ensure that their children are well taught or educated morally so that it could be easy for them (children) to withstand the taste and challenges of their future. As a way of the child’s early childhood socialization process, parents try to educate their children how to greet and thank elders in English language. Children whose parents had received Western education at least averagely could be taught to speak in English language, or even in pidgin language provided such language is different from that of their mother tongues.
DOWNLOAD COMPLETE PROJECT MATERIAL
