Monitor your child’s education and progress

The role of parental involvement in their children’s education, progress and success of the same cannot be over emphasized. Parents not only provide financial, emotional and motivational support.

The journal on Role Of Parental Involvement And Strategies That Promote Parental Involvement notes that for teachers, parents can serve as educational partners by assisting them in developing students’ full academic potential and monitoring the quality of teaching and teaching facilities available in school.

“Parents, by their involvement in their children’s education, create the third link in the triangle with their children and their children’s teachers in developing necessary settings for the success of their children,” the journal notes.

That said, there is a list of challenges that inhibit several parents from actively and effectively participating in monitoring their children’s education. These may range from geographical barriers, limited time, laxity on the side of the school, or a lack of interest on the side of parents.

However, what can schools and parents equally do to enhance and encourage more parental involvement in the monitoring of students’ education and progress?

Know your child’s teacher(s)
Gladys Namubiru Mulwanya, a parent, shares that knowing your child’s teacher is one of the basic yet crucial ways of getting one self involved in their child’s education.

The mother of a Primary Five daughter at Standard Junior School, Zana, shares, “Personally, this has been very beneficial for me. Beyond knowing their name, what they teach or that they are the class teacher, I established a good work relationship with them. Every time I go to school, I try to get quality time with them to discuss about my child’s academic performance. That is what I can do besides providing reading materials for my child.”

She adds that even beyond the classroom, she discusses her child’s behaviour, knowing that the teacher plays a parental role when a parent is absent.

Additionally, Brenda Atek, a teacher at St Joseph’s Primary School, Jinja, shares that parents tend to only be interested in talking to the teacher when their child is not performing well academically, or if they get a problem at school.

“Often, when everything is going fine, parents have little interest in discussing with the teachers about their children, which is not a right attitude. Whether things are going right or wrong, keeping the conversation open with the teachers places the pupil in a better place,” she says.

Express interest at home
Atek further explains that another way parents can be involved in monitoring their children’s academic progress is by expressing interest in the academics of their children at home.

“Parents who care to do homework with their children, check their books, ask about their day at school, and what is generally happening around their school life will be inadvertently doing some academic monitoring of their own,” she says.

Atek also advises that owing to daily schedules, parents may not be able to do this on a daily basis, but taking sometime over the weekend to do some checking can be of value. “This will make your child more accountable, responsible and committed, knowing that the parent will demand an account about their academics,” Atek says.

This, on top of other academic enhancing activities such as games, puzzles, reading that can be done at home, makes learners better.

Know the grades and marks
Schools in Uganda; both primary and secondary assess learners using examinations and grading systems. Getting a grasp of what these are, how they work and what they mean to the parent is important in understanding their children’s academic performance.

“As a parent, educate yourself about the grading system, how the different marks are categorised into grade points, which marks fall in what grade, calculating cutoff points, and knowing what all these mean. For parents with students at university, it could be how to calculate the CGPA or the GPA,” Christopher Mugyenyi, the deputy head teacher at Progressive Secondary School, says.
This information, he notes, can be given by teachers to parents, or it obtained online. “It will make you an informed parent, able to objectively contribute to the academics of your child,” Mugyenyi says.

Attend PTA/ class meetings
Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) are popular platforms in various schools that help promote parental engagement and participation in school. “These meetings allow parents to generally know what is going on around school and how they can participate.

"They also help parents put the school and teachers to task and monitor the general situation in a school, and their individual children. They can also make use of visitation days,” Mugyenyi adds.

Use technology
One of the ways parents continue to leverage on technologies is through WhatsApp groups.
Maurice Othieno , a parent of Buddo Junior School, shares that platforms such as parents’ WhatsApp groups are useful in sharing ideas as parents share about what the school can do better.

It is a great way of consistently staying in touch with the school and its programmes without the parent physically going to school every time and a good way to get in touch with various teachers whenever there is need.

“The world is getting busier, and moving to digital communication platforms. Therefore, schools ought to make it more easy for parents to access information.”

[email protected]