Effect of parental involvement on socialization activities in Day Primary Schools in Kesses Sub County, Uasin Gishu County, Kenya.

Abstract

Students' views, attendance, and learning activities are all influenced greatly by parental engagement. As a result, parents and the school are able to work together more effectively. Parents and teachers can work together to help their children achieve academically. The purpose of the study was to assess the effect of parental involvement in socialization activities in day primary schools. The study is anchored on Ecologies of Parental Engagement Theory. The study objectives were to; determine the effect of activities that parents are engaged on teaching and learning activities of their children in school in a day primary school level, establish the effect of parents’ attitude on school teaching and learning activities in day primary school level, assess the effect of teacher’s attitude on parent’s participation in school teaching and learning in day primary school level, determine the effect of challenges parents face on involvement of school teaching and learning activities in day primary school level. The study population was public primary schools in Uasin Gishu County. The study respondents were teachers, pupils and parents. The design of the study was descriptive survey. The sample size was 904 respondents. Questionnaires were used to collect the data for the study. Data was processed using Statistical Package for Social Science. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Among the major findings the study revealed that sixty-one-point two percent (61.2%) of parents reviewed their children’s work and corrected while thirty eight point eight percent (38.8%) did not. Thirty three point five percent (33.5%) of the children indicated that they worked together with their parents on tasks given at school while Majority Sixty five point five percent (65.5%) did not work together with their parents on tasks given. Sixty five point eight percent (65.8%) of the parents agreed that they facilitated their children with an external tutor to review activities given at school. Forty five percent (45%) of the parents were of the opinion that they reviewed work done and corrected. The study established that eighteen point eight percent (18.8%) of the teachers were of the opinion that parents were misleading their Children. Sixty one point two percent (61.2%) of the parents did not have enough time to engage with their children for involvement in their school work. The study showed that thirty five point two percent (35.2%) of the parents were of the opinion that they were forced by the school to engage in school work. Further, the study established that there was a significant relationship between challenges parents face in involvement of School teaching, learning activities and attitude of teachers towards parents’ participation in children’s work (p=0.005). The study concluded that teachers believed that parental involvement is important for pupils teaching and learning activities. This study recommends that parents should be involved in the learning process of their children and to an extent they should monitor assignments given on daily basis. Continuing research on how parents can be educated so that they can take part in their children's education is needed.