Why parent's role is pivotal in the education of their children

By Katherine Nabuzale

It is said that charity begins at home. This goes to reaffirm the fact that the first institution where a child learns is home.

A child passes most of his time with his parents learning from them and the environment provided to him/her by his parents.

Therefore, regardless of the child’s age, parents certainly play a vital role in the education as well as growth and development of their children.  To ignore such an influence is to dismiss a key-perhaps the key aspect of the solution to educational problems.

Absence of parents in their children’s lives is partly to blame for education crises, like poor performance, unenthusiastic teachers and overly raged students more interested in causing strikes than seeking peaceful and mutual means of solving problems.

Teachers can do their best in the classrooms by providing excellent resources and giving students the central role of attention, but who is supposed to set a foundation for the children-to train them in the way they should go, who is supposed to inculcate moral and ethical responsibilities in the students so that they will not be confused when teachers are applying moral values in the classroom?

Again, who is responsible for making sure that the students are of good conduct and are up to date with their school work?

Inadvertently, parents of this generation are more pre-occupied with work related activities, leaving their children in suspense.

Parental interest and involvement has been demonstrated to have positive affects on children’s learning and progress, an aspect seen as the most important factor influencing levels of development and achievement.

If parents pay attention to their children, they make more scholastic achievements than those who are ignored. Parents when they take care of the following things, they can improve the education of their children.

Girls and cultural traditions; a multifaceted, culturally sensitive approach focusing on changing attitudes, values and perceptions regarding the girl child’s education should be adopted. Parents need to reawaken themselves to the fact that “when you educate a girl, you educate a nation.”

Gone are the days when girls were treated as liability and the only relevant education for them was about home-making. Although such skills as home-making are crucial to girls, they shouldn’t be hindered from receiving a full education.  Collaboration in the communities is essential for mutual understanding and support between the school and home, as these are interdependent entities.

To harness the political and economic imperatives of an educated and skilled competitive workforce, government has to exercise its jurisdiction to encourage and motivate parents to actively contribute to a whole education for their children.

Nurture a positive relationship with your children; Psychology professor Thomas Lickona at State University of New York, acknowledges that when parents don’t develop a close relationship with their children and use it to teach them right conduct, schools have to start from scratch discussing discipline problems as opposed to teaching students what they are supposed to learn.

He further asserts that Parents if they make an effort can remain formative influences even during the challenging adolescent years. Similarly, Peter R. Breggin writes; “A meaningful parent-child relationship where parents give unconditional love and genuine attention to the child is the single most important factor in providing a child with a secure, emotionally stable life”

It’s also reported that, the most academically motivated and morally responsible teens and the ones least likely to engage in risky behaviours are those who enjoy warm and involved relationships with their parents and whose parents set clear expectations and monitor their activities in age-appropriate ways.

Give more time to your children; Spare time in your busy routines, for your children. If you keep on ignoring your children, it will make them feel irresponsible and they will lose interest in studies. Spend time with your children, discuss with them their daily schedules. Keep on truck with them and know when they may need intervention before they derail. Topics like sexual education shouldn’t be a taboo between parents and children.

Keep in touch with teachers of your children; Visit their schools and be informed of their studies and conduct so as to timely know their weakness and rightly intervene.

Encourage open communication with your children in regard to their lives and activities.

Provide them with a supportive home environment; Home environment affects a child’s life in many ways. Therefore, make the home as conducive as possible for the safe growth and development of your children.

Physical expression of affection for the children;  patient attention to a child’s questions and discipline by means other than physical punishment all contribute to good performance and development.

Encourage your children more than apportioning blame; appreciate when they do well in school and if they get fewer grades encourage them to work hard. By appreciating, they start to struggle more to get more appreciation. Encouraging them when they fail or get fewer marks enables them to stand again and start with new determination.

Mind your behaviour while advising them; parents should have balance in their love and strictness to their children. Have love while advising your children and authoritative behaviour while discouraging them from misdemeanours.

Proper academic attitude and commitment starts from home. It’s the support and encouragement parents give children and the intellectual climate that they create in the home which seem to be the most important factors in the education of children. Parents may not be well-educated but that dinner table conversation is far more significant in instilling both social values, concern for knowledge and facts.

The writer is a Ugandan based in Germany