The deep emotional connection between a parent and a child acts as a powerful lens, allowing parents to perceive their child's subtle cues, emotional shifts, and well-being changes that might escape others. Parents bring first-hand experience and are primary caregivers.
When COVID-19 hit, Mrs. Sneha (name changed), a parent of a child, noticed that the children in her colony spent the entire day frolicking around. She asked one of them, why are they doing so instead of spending their time learning. The child replied, “We do not have books to study.”
A solution dawned on Mrs. Sneha instantly. She went door to door, requesting students from different classes to donate books from the grades they had already passed. In a few days, she gathered over 250 books. Then, she distributed them among the students so they could engage in learning.
Thus, it is the insight and initiative of a parent that enables a drastic shift. These parents may not have had the best education but they certainly are aware of the needs of their children, and certainly keep the best interest of their children's heart. Parents, like Mrs. Sneha, are living testament that initiative and insight are way more fundamental to meeting children’s needs than the literacy of a parent.
Moreover, parents play a pivotal role in shaping their child's development, influencing their values, beliefs, and behaviors. They provide love, support, and guidance, laying the foundation for a child's future. They also serve as role models and their presence offers security and stability, creating a sense of belonging. Parents are instrumental in nurturing their children's emotional well-being, helping them navigate through challenges and celebrate successes.
Notably, the role of parents as citizens in shaping the future of their children in schools is worth examining. Across continents, countries, and contexts, parents want better things for their children than they had for themselves. They want their children to reap the benefits of what they sowed. Leveraging this sentiment, there is a need to ensure that the cause of systematically improving parental participation in public education gets more momentum.
In the last decade, Indian education has improved substantially, mainly because of the implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) in 2009. Section 21 of the RTE Act mandates the constitution of School Management Committees (SMCs) in all its 10 Lakh+ government schools across the country. Recognizing the stake that parents hold in this system, 75% of this committee is mandated to be parents whose children study in the school. Ideally, systemic avenues such as SMCs and Parent Teacher Meetings are avenues through which parents can contribute to shaping the future of children.
The public education system is still catching up to this democratic vision. By leveraging their deep emotional connection, first-hand experience, and intuitive understanding, parents, if given the right support and guidance, can shape the destinies of their children.
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