Parental responsibilities in children’s education

During the schooling age when children are physically growing and gaining more subject matter knowledge, the role of parents becomes even more important in relation to children’s education, physical, emotional and intellectual growth and development ensuring their safety, happiness and future wellbeing

By Nikitha Grero

Lord Buddha has preached that parents are the early teachers of their children. Before sending them to school, it is parents who mould the characters of kids. Providing, protection, affection and mental and physical health are the basics that are expected by kids from parents. Building a child with healthy body and mind with spiritual qualities provides a solid basis for him to grasp education at school. 

During the schooling age when children are physically growing and gaining more subject matter knowledge, the role of parents becomes even more important in relation to children’s education, physical, emotional and intellectual growth and development ensuring their safety, happiness and future wellbeing. Equal attention of parents to all these aspects of child’s development is fundamental until they become adults.

Most Sri Lankans deliver their respective parental responsibilities towards the overall development and wellbeing of their children. Among many parental objectives, they demonstrate ardent interest and foremost priority in providing better education since infant age. One of the key objectives is to gain career focused educational qualifications for their children in the future.

In Sri Lanka, the assessment mode of students’ knowledge acquired through formal education is basically written examinations. Department of Examination annually conducts three public examinations for school children. They are;

Grade 5 scholarship examination

G.C.E. Ordinary Level examination and

G.C.E. Advanced Level examination

The Grade 5 scholarship examinations presents opportunities for children who score beyond specified limits of marks to enter a school with better facilities and gain secondary education. 

The O/L examination is the determining factor of future educational path of children. Children sit for a considerable number of subjects at O/L and according to their willingness and talents children can select the course of studies they are expected to follow at A/L. The O/L examination thus, is a turning point of children’s future educational directions. 

The Advanced Level examination is also the next determining factor for children to decide on tertiary education anticipating a career. In the education system in Sri Lanka, three of the above examinations are considered to be significant in children’s education. 

Issues faced by parents

However, critics observe that there are lapses on the part of parents in achieving their children’s educational goals. Studies point out that the enthusiasm of parents at the Grade 5 scholarship examinations gradually reduces during the period when children prepare for the O/L examination and onwards. 

There are key factors influencing the parents’ behaviour in this regard. Parents can advise kids and monitor their academic performance at the stage of Grade 5 scholarship examinations since children are not yet physically and mentally matured. They are prepared to listen to parents. Parents also have the ability to direct the child academically providing supplementary information and support needed at this exercise. 

During the O/L examination children are little more mature and they are reluctant to listen to parents. They tend to compare parents’ talents and those of teachers in the school or the tuition class and hesitant to accept parents’ ideas. On the other hand, many parents are not in a position to guide and support children in their education at O/L, since they are less conversant or not acquainted with subject matters pertaining to different curricula taught for O/L. 

Another constraint that parents encounter is when children become adolescents, they are willing to become independent. Youth spirit grows in their minds and physically grow them strong at adolescents. In the face of this transformation their behavioural pattern also starts changing. Majority of our parents fail to recognise these changes and complex behaviour and adopt appropriate strategies to monitor children’s performance not only in education but also other aspects of life. Absence of parents’ understanding on these aspects also affects children’s academic growth. 

Further, poverty and ignorance have an effect on children’s academic progress at this stage. Parents in low income families are unable to afford for providing books, equipment and other facilities required by the child in the learning process. Tuition classes play a dominant role in children’s education at O/L. Poor parents have financial hardships to obtain the services of effective tuition masters. Such parents are of the view that it is barely sufficient to get through the O/L examination to be qualified for an employment. This lapse is mostly witnessed in low income families in the estate areas, rural remote regions and even in some urban settlements.

There are many parents, even though they are educated and lavishly spending for educating their children, who use to compare their children with other children performing academically better and blame. This comparison and accusation badly demoralise children. Parents fail to appreciate that all children cannot academically perform equally better and different children inherit distinctive competencies. Similarly, certain parents do not see the significance of engaging children in extracurricular activities and cultivating moral values to build up a comprehensively develop child. Persuading children in academic sphere alone does not provide desired results. 

In certain instances, when father becomes a regular alcohol addict, it affects the unity and peace of the family. Termination of parents’ relationships in a family raises questions in regard to children’s progress. In situations of this nature, mother and children become victims and educational matters of children receive low priority. Single parent approach cannot adequately address the issues in the academic progress of the child. In some other families where both parents are employed, they hardly find adequate time to look into children’s education. 

There are some cultural factors that hinder the educational progress of children. Parents in some communities, like in estate and Muslim communities, consider that children, particularly females, must not pursue higher studies. 

Gaps in education system

Apart from the lapses on the part of parents, there are noticeable gaps in our education system as well. It is argued that curricula specified for O/L and A/L are too heavy for the students. They need to undertake daily, a considerable number of exercises and assignments for each subject. Both the teacher and the child are extremely busy with academic accomplishments and they do not have sufficient time to fulfil the rest of the essentials needed for character building. 

The examination method circumscribe assessing the children’s writing ability and the memory power. It is a technique that assess whether the students have absorbed the knowledge imparted at the classroom rather than practical skills, analytical ability, creativity, judgment, problem solving. etc. Children who are poor in writing and memorisation cannot perform successfully at a written examination, but they do possess many other talents and competencies which cannot be measured by an examination. In order to assess their knowledge, other assessment strategies may be applied. 

A blend of remedial steps including policy recommendations for educational reforms is required to address these issues.

(The writer is Director of Lyceum International Schools, Sri Lanka.)