PARENT INVOLVEMENT – A NEW PARADIGM BY INDIAN SCHOOLS

Earlier, the involvement of parents in the education of children was nominal. The role involved admitting the children in the schools, paying for the fee and tuitions, signing the progress reports and occasionally making a visit to the school. Leaving behind such an era, today it is both the parents and children who have to participate in the education process.

Studies conducted in many parts of the world have confirmed that parent involvement plays an important role in the healthy growth and development of the child. The children whose parents participate in various education exercise crafted to encourage the child have shown better results compared to children whose parents are busy with their work.

The concept, though it is old, but the new developments regarding improvised education models have given it a new vigour. In many education institutions and schools, the school management now arranges orientation programmes to let the parents know as how they can help in educating the children in a better way.

Nowadays schools and education institutes have also been very selective in the admission processes. Every school desires to have the best students admitted in their schools. Furthermore, the schools want parents to ensure them that they would shoulder the responsibility of educating the children. This is the rationale for more points being awarded to qualified parents who can help their children while they are being taught at the school.

The degree of parent involvement is a subject that can be debated. Some parents have a cursory glance at what is going on in the school and believe that they are doing their job well. But that is not what modernists agree to. The responsibilities of parents have been multiplied manifolds since the introduction of the new paradigm. Both children and the parents are made to realize that education is a collective effort and mere supervision is not enough.

Parent involvement has been seen as affecting the attitude and behaviour of the child. Mostly, parents are much concerned in early years of education and lose their interest as the child grows. At the same time, the child even in middle school and secondary school is in great need of guidance and support. That is one area where maximum focus has to be applied. The sooner it is realized the better it is.