Walking the journey with children requires dedication and structures for engagement.
Due to the pressures of work, most employed parents find it difficult to set aside time and meaningfully engage their children.
There are parents who will for full year not know even who the class teacher of their child is.
The results for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams are slated to be released any time this week, according to reports from the Ministry of Education. The teachers and parents of the more than one million pupils who sat these exams are as anxious as the candidates themselves about the results.
As soon as the verdict is out, there will be celebrations in homesteads and schools. Every year I see several of my friends posting on social media about the performance of either their children or their relatives. This year will be no exception.
It provides an opportunity to reflect on the role of parents in education of children. Over the last few months, I have had the privilege of chairing parents’ engagement meetings with their children and class teacher for a class that sat the KCPE exams. We will all be looking forward to the results of all the children in that cohort. In the process I formed bonds with several of the parents and with pupils.
A few days ago, I also had a discussion with two friends, one of whom works in a European country and was sharing experiences on the structures for teacher and parent engagement with children. Education must be more than just grades. It must be a journey.
Walking the journey with children requires dedication and structures for engagement. Due to the pressures of work, most employed parents find it difficult to set aside time and meaningfully engage their children. It is very easy to leave the task to teachers. This is a mistake.
The months when we had intense engagement with our class the lessons we learned were extremely fulfilling. First, teachers appreciate when they know they have the support of the parents. It makes education more fulfilling. Follow-up becomes easy and fulfilling.
Many are the times my daughter’s teacher would call me when there was delay in doing homework or post messages to parents on the joint WhatsApp group. While this method may not be available in all parts of the country, the necessity for close engagement is essential.
Secondly, children too feel their parents’ level of involvement in their studies. It is not just about ensuring homework is done, or paying fees, it is more about walking the journey, attending parents’ meetings, following up on the small things that happen with the child in school.
There are parents who will for full year not know even who the class teacher of their child is. However far or near the school is, the engagement with it by parents is mandatory.
The competency-based curriculum (CBC) is designed to help improve this engagement with schools. It is important to realise though that it will take more than the curriculum change.
We require a societal reboot to be able to ensure that our education system is one that is more than just examination grades. It must be about learning and recognising that wholesome learning process requires the full involvement of parents too.
Therefore, as the results come out next week and children react to them, there will be temptation to only assess their performance. It is important that parents also assess themselves and determine their levels of engagement in the education of those children. That way the results can form a basis of reflection and enhanced engagement.
As the first CBC class joins junior secondary next year, there is need for parents to enhance their engagement. This involvement must move beyond the subjects taught in class to soft skills too. Sitting at a table with some of the kids that were in my daughter’s school at a lunch meeting between parents and students we got to discuss about future careers and life generally.
The questions that they asked, and the discussions were a true eye-opener on how greater involvement by parents would help complement the already good work that teachers perform.
Addressing the challenges that society faces requires collaboration in all facets of life. The education system is one area where there is room for improving such collaboration with a view to ensuring that children are moulded into effective adults.
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