Parent-Teacher Partnerships: Are They Actually Working for the Indian Schools?

Written by Monisha Thangam

In India, education is largely considered as a powerful medium “to become successful in life”. The 2021 UNICEF reports say, almost 80% of Indian parents believe that what their child could achieve academically would be a major factor determining his or her future. Thus, naturally, parental involvement in their child\’s education becomes limited to monitoring the results, helping out in schoolwork, and attending parent-teacher meetings. This level of involvement in a child\’s education does create immense stress to the entire system.

I argue that parental involvement should also encompass non-academic activities. A study by Pratham Education Foundation claims that only 30% of rural parents engage further in their child\’s education outside the school; often this lack of involvement stems from work commitment, lack of formal education, and socio-economic barriers. Such limited involvement will hamper the child\’s learning abilities and overall development.

Why Strong Partnership between School and Home Necessarily Important?

Indian schools have traditionally viewed teachers as the only authority in education. With large class sizes and administrative work, one-on-one engagement with parents is becoming increasingly difficult. As reported by the Azim Premji Foundation, the number of students interacting with a single teacher in Indian government schools averages 30-to-1, with certain classes whose strength exceeds 40-50.

The Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel (GEEAP, 2023) stated that simple but effective parental involvement, such as reading with their children, could improve learning outcome scores by 20%. Therefore, under the National Education Policy (NEP 2020), schools are now encouraged to become community learning centres in which parents can be engaged in specific reading campaigns along with activity-based learning and experiential education models.

Impediments in Parent-Teacher Bond

Apart from all the benefits, different kinds of obstacles block the paths to an effective parent-teacher relationship:

Cultural Barriers – Most rural parents think that teachers alone are capable of deciding matters relating to their children, and their involvement is not mandatory. According to a 2019 study by IIM Ahmedabad, only 32% of rural parents said they could comfortably discuss their child\’s progress with teachers. Time Constraints- 70% working parents (NASSCOM report) become unable to devote time to school-related activities because of their long hours of working.

What can schools do to enhance parent-teacher engagement?

Strengthen Communication Channels

Communication is essential for strong parent-teacher relationships. To relate Vidhya Vidhai’s experience with a district school, huge differences in student behaviour were realised when WhatsApp groups for parents were formed by teachers. Such real-time updates on students\’ progress, attendance, and behaviour foster the sense of shared responsibility.

How can technology plug the gap where there is no connectivity, particularly in rural areas?

• Introduce voice messages and mobile-friendly applications to parents who have very low literacy levels.
• Regular community meetings can then be held in local languages to boost their child’s attendance.

Foster Holistic Child Development

Education is not solely confined to academics; it also encompasses emotional and social development. It’s been identified that students who explored non-academic activities of their schools apparently scored higher marks on measures of emotional intelligence and conflict resolution (Economic Times, 2022).

According to a study by the Azim Premji Foundation, 70 percent of children from schools in which parent-teacher interactions were robust exhibited confidence and adaptability regarding their social ecosystem.

How can schools get parents included in the holistic development?

• Activity days for parents and children can be organised around creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving.
• Parents are encouraged to participate in storytelling sessions, gardening excursions, or cultural programs at school.

How can schools motivate parents for involvement, despite having little time?

Flexible scheduling, including virtual meetings for working parents, can be scheduled by the school management. Short, effective weekend workshops can be organised instead of long meetings during the week.

Managing the Misaligned Expectations

A study published by The American Psychological Association (APA) suggests that parents often focus on academic performance as a measure of success, while teachers emphasise emotional, behavioural, and social development as key to overall success. The charge lies in creating a connection between the two perspectives through sharper communication and shared goal-setting.

Parental expectations regarding school education can be aligned with those of the educational goals using the following measures:

• Parents can be educated through appropriate orientation programs organised by schools about holistic child development.
• Joint goal-setting meetings where parents and teachers collaboratively define success for each student.

A Partnership for Success

Through this blog, I believe that I showcased concrete evidence that a good parent-teacher partnership achieves success with students. For this purpose, the involvement of schools, teachers and parents is needed, while they have challenges to navigate: cultural hesitations, time constraints, and so on.

Dr Rukmini Banerji rightly said, \”Education is the responsibility of parents, families, communities, and schools working together.\” Education should be very rightly seen as a common responsibility involving more than just the classroom.

Are we prepared to move from an attitude where education in India is seen as something that happens within school walls to one that sees education as a shared mission involving families, teachers, and communities?

I leave it to you.

– Monisha Thangam, Team Vidhya Vidhai