Parental involvement in school counseling: A case study of Matenda Cluster in Zvishavane District

Abstract

The study seeks to assess parental involvement in primary school counseling. The objectives of the study were to investigate parental supp0rt towards the counselling of learners in reducing absenteeism, examine the importance of parents in counselling, to investigate the collaboration that exists between the school and parents in counselling as well as suggesting ways of improving and to find out the factors affecting parental involvement in school counseling. The case study research design was adopted to guide the research process. The area of study was Matenda Cluster in Zvishavane District in Midlands Province. The population consisted of fifteen parents and nine teachers from three primary schools in Matenda cluster in Zvishavane District. The researcher used purposive sampling in the selection. This exploration accumulated information from parents and teachers by utilizing questionnaires and interviews. The major findings were that school heads and teachers had limited understanding of parental involvement, parents are illiterate, parents have financial constraints to assist their children and weak communication channels between the school and the community. The research’s major conclusions were that School heads and teachers have superiority complex in engaging parents and parents feel inferior to be involved, parents have challenges when assisting their children with homework, the schools are located in rural areas and coupled by a poor socio-economic background and most parents come from very poor, disadvantaged backgrounds so they are failing to provide educational materials for their children and parents were failing to attend to meetings and other school activities. The researcher also recommended the inclusion of parental involvement in teacher training (Colleges and Universities) curriculum, non-formal adult education to cater for illiterate parents, income generating projects to redress poverty and schools to devise efficient communication mechanism