The Permanent Secretary at the Department of State for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. Baboucarr Bouy, has said that parents have a crucial role to play in their children's education. The Department of State for Education is currently embarking on a series of programmes and activities aimed at improving the quality of teaching and learning in schools and at the same time trying to foster discipline in the pupils that pass through our education system.
The permanent secretary was speaking at the graduation ceremony of the outgoing grade nine students from
He spoke on the role of parents in the education of their children.
Mr. Bouy pointed out that parents have a very important role to play this and must therefore be prepared to rise up to the task.
"They must therefore not leave the task of educating their children exclusively in the hands of the teachers or expect educational authorities to pass laws that would replace the role parents are supposed to play in the education of their children," he said.
He asserted that there is enough evidence, which suggests that parental involvement in the school helps in improving in the school's effectiveness. He added that the study was carried out in The Gambia by a team of researchers from the Department of State for Basic and Secondary Education on the subject of school improvement and what should be the parent's role in improving children's learning as perceived by the parents themselves. He said the study also revealed that parents' contributions to schools are significant and two fold, "there are within the school and outside the school contributions and both of these contributions can come in the form of moral and financial support," he said.
Mr. Bouy pointed out that the 'within the school' contribution is through paying school and study fees, buying instructional materials, supplementary reading books and pencils, providing school lunches and participating in bring and buy sales. He said that as parents their overall responsibility in the education of their children is to ensure that they attend school and learn effectively with maximum discipline. The permanent secretary therefore thanked the management of the school and the staff for the rendering what "we are witnessing today." He said that without their support, either one way or the other, the occasion would not have been a success.
