Rural Parents’ Involvement in Basic Education: Challenges and Prospects

Abstract

Parental involvement in their children's education has a big impact on the child's success. Due to socioeconomic constraints, low literacy rates, and a lack of resources, parental involvement in their children's education remains essential yet generally limited in rural geographical areas. Involving parents through readily available educational efforts, teacher collaboration, and community support can improve the academic success of children. This research, which was conducted in rural Nepal in in terms of socioeconomic disadvantaged locations, aimed to explore parents lived experiences of parental involvement in the educational experiences of their children as well as discover more about the challenges they encountered when striving to support their children's schooling. There was a qualitative research design used in the present study. Interviews were conducted with 12 parents of school-age children in a rural area of Gorkha district regarding their opinions on engaging in the education of their children. Facts and information have been given to a thematic analysis through the method of narrative inquiry. Two different narratives of parental involvement were found through an extensive examination of the data: first, an optimistic narrative that showed parents' confidence in schools and their dedication to offering their children a better future, and second, a narrative of frustration that showed frustration resulting from a number of factors, such as parents' socioeconomic status, fears about schools, and the influence of local social norms. It was clear that the parents wanted their children to go to school and perceived education as a way to improve their chances for success even in the face of struggle. By uncovering and highlighting all of the context-related challenges the parents experienced the findings enrich the recognition of parents' involvement in their children' schooling in rural, impoverished geographical areas.