Mutual effort in the Academe

July 14, 2018 Educator's Corner Opinion

Teachers and parents play an important role in the lives of every student. Teachers provide the concepts, opportunities and experiences to hone the knowledge, skills and attitudes of students. Parents provide financially and emotionally to support the education of the child. Without parents who will encourage and support the child to go to school, access to education is impossible. Without teachers who will develop the child, learning will not be achieved.
Considering that there are capable teachers who are taking the responsibility for the holistic development of students, there are still students with poor academic performance if not failed. Students differ in terms of academic performance. There are students who are in the advanced level of academic performance while some are in the beginning level. This situation could be attributed by the fact that there are many factors that may affect the level of performance of students. Family is one factor that may affect the child’s performance in school.
Considering that family may influence the academic performance of students, teachers get the family background of the students through profiling. Teachers do the effort of informing the parents about the status of academic performance, behavior and attendance of students in class. There are teachers who are immediately calling the attention of parents when students have incurred three or more absences because attendance greatly affects the academic performance of the students. Furthermore, teachers are also encouraging parents to attend during the parents’ conference and card giving.
Gregorio (1976) corroborates that it is the duty of teacher to keep close touch with parents, to inform them of the progress or any serious misconduct of their children, and of all other matters of vital interest to them. The teacher should invite the cooperation of the parents by taking them into his confidence on all important matters. Through monthly or quarterly reports to the parents, the teacher should inform the latter of the mental, physical and moral growth of their children. The teacher should maintain cooperative relations with the parents. One of the best means of reaching the parents is through meetings held regularly. In the meeting, the teachers and parents can discuss their mutual interest and the interest of the school. This will also give the teacher the opportunity to present the work of the school and the students.
Furthermore, as stated in Republic Act No. 9155, parents shall cooperate with the school in the implementation of the school program curricular and co-curricular. It is the duty of the parents to monitor their child’s academic performance in school. It is their duty to help or assist their students to that they will be able to get better performance which also helps in the attainment of school’s objective.
It is the duty of teachers to render regular reports on performance and behavior of each student to parents and guardians witch specific suggestions for improvement. Teachers are expected to have strong linkage with parents especially in terms of students’ academic performance. In like manner, parents are encouraged to support the schools endeavor in the holistic development of their child. Parental support to school and to their child can be seen on the attendance of parents during card giving, parents’ conference and other school activities and programs. JONALYN C. AMBRONA, Baguio City National High School