The effect of parents’ involvement in school activities on the students ‘indiscipline in government aided secondary schools

Abstract

The study was carried out in the five (05) selected government aided secondary schools and parents’ involvement in school activities on students’ indiscipline in the secondary schools of Katakwi district. The sample size comprised of; 05 deputy head teachers, 40 class teachers, 20 PTA executive committee members and finally 50 student leaders using purposive sampling techniques. The specific objectives in this study were; to find out the effects of parents monitoring and supervision of students’ indiscipline in secondary schools, to identify the effects of parents’ follow- up of students’ adherence to school rules and regulations and to establish the impact of parents’ provision of scholastic materials on students’ indiscipline. Research findings show that the overall parents’ involvement in school activities which have direct influence on students’ discipline was very low and also showed that the largest number of respondents accepted that parents were not involved closely in their students’ indiscipline at all times. Others agreed that the parents’ educational levels/ignorance was the reasons as to why parents’ involvement in most of the school activities was low and they believed that once the child reach secondary that he or she has grown up and can make his or her decisions alone. Data analysis used questionnaires and an in-depth interview guides to arrive at conclusions. In this research, a mixed cross-sectional design was adopted, quantitative data analysis was presented in percentages and tables and qualitative data was analyzed using a thematic content approach. The survey and interview methods were employed and questionnaires and interview guides were used in this research for data collection and was presented in the form of narratives and direct quotations from the respondents themselves. The sample size involved was 115 respondents in my study and it revealed that the parents’ involvement in school activities on students’ indiscipline significantly influenced students' discipline in government aided secondary schools of Katakwi district. The findings showed that parents were not effectively involved in the school activities and in matters concerning their students’ discipline like attending class meetings, annual general meetings and provision of scholastic materials. However, the study recommends that the parents and head teachers be involved in formulating and designing of school rules and regulations and establish clear and consistent discipline policies that are jointly implemented to manage the discipline of students in these secondary schools of Katakwi district.