Internal Education Stakeholders’ Views on Parents Involvement in Public Secondary Schools’ Affairs in Kilosa District in Morogoro Region
Keywords:
Parent, parents’ involvement, school affairs, stakeholders.Abstract
Within contemporary society, parents’ involvement in public school affairs is a challenge due to various factors. The present study sought to explore the internal education stakeholders’ views on parent involvement in public secondary schools’ affairs. Specifically, the study aimed to: (i) assess the levels of parents’ awareness of involvement in school matters and (ii) explore factors inhibiting parental involvement in school affairs. The study was conducted at Kisanga secondary school in Kilosa District. It adopted a mixed research approach with the convergent parallel design. It involved 110 participants who were selected through purposive and simple random sampling techniques. Data were collected through semi-structured interview guide, structured questionnaires and focus group discussion. The findings showed that parents’ involvement in school affairs was poor despite the fact that they were aware of the school meetings and other events schedules. The study further revealed that time limitations, varied perceptions towards teachers, life hardship, lack of awareness on the education policy and parents’ negligence were factors responsible for poor parents’ involvement in public secondary schools’ affairs. Based on these findings, the study concludes that the government and non-government organisations should offer community education as a mitigation approach for effective parents’ involvement in public secondary schools’ affairs. Lastly, the study recommended to the government of Tanzania to collaborate with other partners through community education to create awareness to every individual citizen on the importance of parents’ involvement in school affairs.