The role of parental involvement in improving academic performance of lower secondary students : a case of one school in Maldives / Shifaza Ali

Abstract

Parental involvement is believed to be an important aspect of students" schooling. Schools expect support from all the parents regardless of the grades the students are studying. What is worrying is that secondary level students receive less support from their parents in school related activities. The school selected for this study also experiences lack of parental support in secondary level.
This study sought to establish the role of parental involvement in improving academic performance of lower secondary students of one school in Maldives. In order to meet the objectives of the study, two research questions were generated. The first question was designed to explore how parental involvement contribute to students' academic achievement. The second research question tried to find the role of parents in motivating their children towards academic achievement.
As qualitative approach best serves the purpose when a situation is to be explored, the current study used qualitative method to deal with the problem. As the research was done in a small scale and is about one school where little is known about the current research topic, case study.design was adopted. Purposive sampling technique was used select four teachers and four parents of high achieving students. In-depth interviews were used to collect information from the participants. Using content analysis, the collected data was analysed.
The findings revealed that parents of high achieving students provide variety of assistance for their children at home and in activities related to children's academic life. In addition to this, parents of high achievers arc supportive to school. The results also showed that there is a need for awareness sessions For parents in improving the parenting skills. Finally the inadequate support from the community in improving students' academic performance was identified. In conclusion, implications, recommendations and directions for further research was mentioned.