Effects of Home - Based Parental Involvement Practices in Promoting Quality of Education in Public Day Secondary Schools in Igembe Sub County, Meru County - Kenya

Abstract

Universally, institutions of learning are charged with the task of producing quality human resource which can adapt to the ever-changing global environments. Secondary schools provide the youth with opportunities to acquire human capital that enable them to pursue higher education and also improve their knowledge and skills. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of home - based parental involvement practices in promoting quality of education in public day secondary schools in Igembe Central Sub County, Meru County- Kenya. Convergent design was used. This study comprised 28 principals, 266 teachers, 6912 students and 144 parents’ representatives. This made a total target population of 7312 subjects from the public day secondary schools of Igembe Central Sub County. Out of this target population, a sample of 8 principals, 48 teachers, 32 parents and 352 students, making a total of 440 subjects, was drawn using both probability and non-probability sampling procedures. The researcher collected both qualitative and quantitative data using interview schedules for principals, questionnaires for teachers’ and students’, parents’ focus group discussions and document analysis guide. The results obtained led to the conclusion that improving home based involvement of the parents can lead to improvement in children’s school attendance, homework completion, improved learning behaviors and even better learner’s discipline. This indicates that parents’ involvement in education of their children at home is a powerful force in enhancing the quality of education offered in public day secondary schools. The study recommends that parents be enlightened on the home-based activities that either directly or indirectly affect the quality of education that their children receive so that they may know how to invest their energies and resources to improve education in their children’s schools. It was also recommended that parents should monitor their children’s security in addition to the improvement of home- school relationships.

Factors Influencing Pupil Transition from Primary to Secondary School In Hulugho Sub-County, Kenya

“…The study shows that in the Hulugho subcounty, support programs have significant influence on pupil transition from primary to secondary school. Guidance and counselling, material help, personal skills through parent engagement, academic skills such as learning, advice, mentorship, financial support to offset learning expenditures, and parent involvement in students' academic problems are all part of the transition through support programs [40][41][42][43][44].…”

Parental Involvement and Academic Achievement: Voices of Role-Players in Secondary Schools in Mpumalanga, South Africa

“…According to El Nokali, Bachman and Votruba-Drzal (2010), the concept of parental involvement is viewed as involving various activities in which parents participate either at home or at school, and either directly or indirectly, so as to support the learning of their children, including in terms of their formal home-school relations, in relation to which both teachers and parents collaborate in supporting the interests of the child(ren) involved. Parental involvement also refers to parents utilising their resources to offer the needed support to their children's academic accomplishments (Thuba, Kathuri & Mariene, 2017). This involves the engagement of children in cognitively stimulating activities at home, ensuring that children are able to access a variety of community resources that enhance their schooling experiences or parenting activities, such as monitoring homework, television, and social activities (Harris & Goodall, 2008).…”