Child-related factors and parental involvement among parents in select public elementary and high schools in the Philippines

ABSTRACT

This paper is based on a survey conducted with 3153 students coming from 29 public elementary and high schools in the Philippines. A majority of the students were 9–12 years old. This current paper seeks to know which type of parental involvement is most pronounced and helpful in improving children’s school outcomes. This study concludes that parental involvement among Filipino parents in low-income households is generally low. Child-related factors, namely, having academic merit, frequent daily meals, and internet skills increased parental involvement. Results of the study point to the importance of providing home-based parental involvement opportunities to parents. Parents from low-income families spend most of their time making ends meet for economic survival. Instead of competing for their attention, schools can provide avenues where parents can engage in children’s learning at home. Schools can capitalise on parents’ ability to influence children’s school outcomes through parenting for education.

KEYWORDS:

• Parental involvement
• children’s outcomes
• Filipino parents
• parenting for education
• parental involvement at home
• parental involvement in school

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Holcim Philippines.