Perceptions of School Heads on Parents' Involvement on the Zimbabwean Primary Schools

The involvement of parents in Zimbabwean schools is governed by Statutory Instrument 87 of 1992 (SI87) for non-government schools and Statutory Instrument 379 of 1998 (SI379) (Bowora and Mpofu, 1998) for government schools. Non-government schools are run by School Development Committees (SDCs) and government schools are run by School Development Associations (SDAs). It is argued that comprehensive parent involvement is a pre-requisite for improving the culture of teaching and learning in schools. Against the background of a literature review which examines legislation affecting parents, this article draws on a qualitative inquiry of parent involvement in a small sample of primary schools in Matabeleland North selected by means of purposeful sampling. The research adopted a qualitative methodology using a case study design. Data were gathered by means of semi-structured interviews using an interview guide. Views of the research respondents were audio-taped, transcribed and became the primary data for analysis. The findings indicated that the schools were doing more to involve parents than is legally required. Strong leadership from heads of schools together with formal organisation of parent involvement has established parent-friendly schools, regular home-school communication and innovative parent volunteering. However, certain reservations to parental involvement were detected in school heads’ attitudes. The study recommends that together with enabling legislation, schools can develop valuable initiatives to make parents more active and equal partners in the governance of schools.