SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS

The investigation of the problem revealed both anticipated and unanticipated findings. Generally, from the literature consulted and data collected, what came out are the following: There is a need for regular interaction and communication among the stakeholders of the school community to be able to find solutions to problems together when they arise. The activities of the school are not the sole responsibility of teachers and the school administrators alone. This is reflected in monitoring learners after school Mashamaite School have been partially involved in school activities despite the fact that most primary and secondary schools are community owned.

There is general consensus that the school administration should rope in the community in the year programme planning and copies of the planned activities made available to guide them

93 so that they are able to know when they are required to make inputs to issues of mutual importance and welfare of the school, the learners and the community. There is agreement that monitoring learners from several perspectives would make them become aware of their activities thereby making them to behave responsibly wherever they would be. Teachers believe that parent-community involvement would help them to improve in their effectiveness because they would be pulling resources together for instance when learners are given homework parents will make sure learners attend to it. Learners feel that the combined efforts of parents, community and the school will make it possible for them to excel to be able to please their parents and teachers. It is necessary that teachers should go into the community with empathy and interact meaningfully with their constituents for mutual co- existence and progress. Parents and the community should be called upon in emergency situations outside the planned programme. Parental and community involvement help to:

(a) Improve discipline.

(b) Punctuality of learners to school.

(c) Make learners responsible and take their school duties seriously.

d) Make teachers feel confident that parents and community are with them in whatever they do at school adding to their confidence and effectiveness.

The following were the unanticipated findings which were considered relevant to be included in the study. Parents and the communities claim that they cannot take responsibility for something that they have not been trained to do. This indicates that there is need for some education to orientate parents and the communities to be involved in the management of the schools in their communities. Parents and communities feel that they cannot he held accountable for responsibilities that they have no lawful control. Most members of the SGBs and PTA are either illiterate or semi-illiterate and for that matter cannot be expected to understand academic and management procedures of the schools in their communities. However, this study revealed a number of challenges that hinder the effective involvement of parents in school governance. These include lack of educational background among parents, poor knowledge of the English language and lack of general understanding of educational terms. According to the participants, training of School Board members has been ineffective, inadequate, and provided only to some members, so they are now appealing to the Ministry

94 of Education to provide training to all members in the language that parents and other participants understand.

5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS

The study has revealed very interesting and easy-to-follow results that have been presented in a very simple narrative for easy understanding. The recommendations that are worth making as a sum total of the study are that Members of the SGBs and PTAs should be literate and given adequate orientation about their responsibilities .Regular interaction with all the stakeholders of the school government should be encouraged so that there is no redundant time lapse to contribute to the ferment of Parent-community should exist in tandem for progressive development and better performance for both teachers and their children. According to Boyer (1991:33) the policies must be well structured, they must “build bridges between home and school”. Through empowering parents, bridges can be easily built and partnership will be strong. The stronger the partnership the more effective becomes the school and the relationship between educators and parents become stronger.

Parents must also be taught the boundaries within which they have to be involved so that they don’t transgress. These boundaries must be stipulated clearly in the policy that involves parents and simply and easy language must be used, so that the parents could understand it easily. On the basis of the findings of this study it is recommended that:-

 Parents and educators should try their best to develop trust and good working relations at schools.

 Parents should develop interest in the education of their children from an early age up to high schools, so that the learners can be successful in their studies.

 Educators and parents should work together towards one goal, to help children to be responsible and dedicated citizens of the country.

 Co-operation between parents and educators is a crucial thing for proper learning and teaching to take place.

 Strong ‘bridges’ between schools and homes should be built.

 The Education Department has a big role to play in levelling the fields between these two parties (Parents and educators) and by promoting collaboration and communication between the two.

95  Educators and learners should be empowered to work with parents and also have

skills to empower parents to be able to participate effectively in school activities.  The government should work hand in hand with schools and make use of the retired

educators to educate illiterate parents, so that most parents can learn to read and write and thus read with their children. (A certain percentage of payment can be agreed upon, between the government and retired educators).

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