Parents’ Education Level and Parental Engagement in Management of Students Discipline in Public Day Secondary Schools in Kitui County, Kenya

Abstract

Student discipline is a global issue. Parental engagement in management of learner discipline has remained low. This study examined the effect of parents’ education level on their participation in management of learners’ discipline in public day secondary schools in Kitui County, Kenya. The hypothesis was: there is no relationship between parents’ level of education and their engagement in management of student discipline. Descriptive survey design was adopted. The sample included 70 public day secondary schools, 70 Principals, 70 Parents’ Teachers’ Association (PTA) chairpersons, 86 Form three class teachers and 354 Form three students obtained by purposive sampling, simple random sampling and stratified proportionate sampling. The instruments were questionnaires, interview guide and focus group discussions. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The significance level was set at alpha = 0.05. Pearson’s correlation coefficient test results indicated a strong positive correlation (r=0.714, P < 0.05) hence the hypothesis was rejected and conclusion was made that parental education level affects management of students’ discipline since parents with low level of educational attainment were less engaged. Recommendations were made that: The school board of management could organize workshops to equip parents with skills on parental engagement, the Ministry of Education could establish a policy on parental home supervision. The Teachers Service Commission could organize in-service training programs to equip teachers with skills for sensitizing parents on parental engagement. Principals could use annual general meetings to sensitize parents about the educational policy on parental involvement in relation to student discipline.