The involvement of parents in rural communities in the education of their children in secondary schools

Abstract

The study investigated the involvement of parents m rural communities m the education of their children in secondary schools in the Malamulele East Circuit of Vhembe District in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. This study investigated the extent to which parents in those rural communities are involved in the education of their children in secondary schools. The study was conducted through mixed methodology research design. A total of 170 teachers completed questionnaires while eight parents were interviewed.

Simple random sampling was used to select teachers from the eleven secondary schools in a probability sampling technique during the first phase of the study. A non­ probability purposive-judgemental sampling method was applied to further select eight School Governing Body (SGB) parents' component for face-to-face interviews during the second phase of this study. Quantitative data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science 18 (SPSS 18). Qualitative data was coded into themes guided by the aims of the study. Results were presented with the help of tables showing frequencies and frequency percentages. The results showed that parents are not involved in the education of their children in secondary schools. It was also found that the majority of parents do not stay with their children as they work far from home.