Parental involvement in Grade 7 learners’ academic achievement in Empangeni Umhlathuze District, KwaZulu-Natal

Abstract

There is compelling evidence that parental involvement positively influences children‟s academic achievement. Its benefits occur across all socio-economic classes. This study sought to establish parental involvement in grade 7 learners‟ achievement in Empangeni in the uMhlathuze District, KwaZulu-Natal. The attribution theory was used not only to substantially explain the status of parental involvement in uMhlathuze District, but also to generate strategies to promote parents‟ participation in their children‟s school education. Open-ended questions for school management teams and for parents were used in this study covering three primary schools in three settings. Respondents were selected through the use of random sampling in the three schools (one rural school, one township school, and one multiracial school). A total of 75 participants were selected. This study confirms that parental involvement has an effect on learner performance. The empirical findings indicate that parental involvement alone is not sufficient in the achievement of learners. It can therefore be concluded that parental involvement alone does not lead to the improvement of learner achievement. There could be other factors associated with academic achievement such as learner motivation, Intelligent Quotient (IQ), Emotional Intelligence/Quotient (EQ) and teachers‟ support which could also be at play. It seemed to be the case that children coming from rural schools sometimes do not perform well because they lack facilities and infrastructure. However, no such research analysis has been undertaken to support or disprove this hypothesis. This study recommends further investigation as this can be another gap that needs attention from researchers in the field.