“Both parents and communities must be involved in the local schools. Education is too important to leave solely to a group of professional educators.”

Learning begins at home. From the time a child is born, he learns from his environment including his parents and the community he lives in. There is no denying the fact that a child’s behavior and knowledge are largely dependent on how his parents groom him at home. A child picks up the language that is spoken by his parents and learns various other facts of life as he constantly questions the people around him with whatever doubts he may have. How can then one assume that the moment a child is sent to school, parents and communities should detach themselves from his process of learning? It is essential that parents, communities and teachers make a combined effort to impart maximum possible knowledge to school children.

Education systems around the world may or may not emphasize on assignments to be carried out at home depending on the education system being followed in the countries. If a school child gets assignments to be done at home, the parents might help him in completing the work. However, if the education system that is being followed does not emphasize on home assignments, should the parents not be bothered about what the child has done in school? Can the responsibility of imparting education be left to the teachers alone? It is not necessary that the child spends his entire day in school reading and writing. He may be spending a lot of time in other co-curricular activities like sports and music. When is he supposed to review whatever has been done in the class? Involvement of parents in the activities being carried out in the school will benefit both the parents as well as the teachers in imparting high standards of education.

There may be instances when a child is an introvert and he does not raise questions or doubts in the class. His questions will always remain unanswered if his parents do not take the initiative of spending time with their child to clarify his queries. On the other hand, there may be a case wherein the child is inattentive in class and is easily distracted by the happenings around him. It is not necessary that a teacher will always be able to give undivided attention to such a child. One cannot ignore the fact that in a classroom, a teacher has to give equal importance to all the students in the class. The traits of a child are best known to his parents and the people who live with him. Can the child’s family choose to ignore his performance in school and blame the teachers for failing to teach him properly? The parents will have to take extra pains to ensure that their child is groomed and taught to be attentive in class. For this they may have to interact with the teachers and choose the most appropriate method for educating the child. At the same time, it is not necessary that all schools provide the best mode of instructions and good quality teaching standards. The inputs from the parents of the school children will help the schools in modifying their teaching methods to suit the children studying at their schools.

Education is too important an aspect of life to be handled carelessly. It will not be possible to reverse time and go in the past to undo the errors made by neglecting the education of a child when he was in school. We all have heard of the saying, ‘A stitch in time saves nine.’ Leaving the education of a school going child at the discretion of his teachers may have serious repercussions in the future. If the parents of the child and the people around him have not been showing an interest in what he does at school, the child might be led astray and it might have an adverse effect on his future career prospects. Therefore, it is necessary that all local schools involve the opinions and contributions of parents in the process of imparting high quality education as it cannot be provided by the teachers alone.