Message to all guardians Wednesday, 01 December 2010 00:23

The guardian is one of the most important elements required for the success of the educational process. The absence of that role either results in the loss of all efforts being made or at least in not achieving the desired results. Due to the importance of this role, the development of education system in Qatar focuses on the participation of parents through the establishment of the Board of Trustees as an active participant in the control, direction, and guidance of schools.

In fact, we educators suffer from the absence of the parents’ role as a partner with us in the education of children. This absence of participation weakens the efforts being made by the schools as they are one dimensional and thus their influence and impact is less than we hope to achieve. Oftentimes, guardians only come to the school when a problem occurs and amicable visits with the aim to keep track of the academic progress of their children are completely non-existent despite their importance in the process of successful learning. For that reason, educators call for the continuous, constructive, and proactive engagement of guardians that is not merely reactive.

Through this article, I wish to convey a message to every parent: if your child is the most valuable part of your life, this child needs some care and attention from you. Your child’s academic success is no less important than their need for adequate shelter, clothing, and food because excellence is your son’s and daughter’s gateway to the future. Do not simply think that the teacher or the school will complete that role and that you, as a parent, are not related to the level of your child’s progress in education. Perhaps your excuse is that you are busy with your occupation and life’s many worries.

Fathers, do not deprive your children’s education from your time, thinking that this role is only limited to their mother, or that the level of the curriculum is much higher than that of the level of parent’s educations, or that the child does not need help from parents. The relationship between the school and the family is a cooperative relationship and a participatory process. A student does not come to school as a blank page but equipped with knowledge, values, and concepts that are supplied by the family. The school’s role is to reinforce the correct values, developing their foundation, amending errors, and teaching the student new knowledge. This relationship must be an on-going one as what a school cannot complete, the parents will guarantee its completion. The goal remains, in the end, to bring students to succeed and excel. Parents’ participation at their children’s schools will have the greatest impact on a sound upbringing, benefitting the children in a prosperous future as active members in their community.

Therefore, I advise you, dear parents, to work while you are at home toward helping your children in their studies, promoting the positive aspects of their personalities, trying to listen to them, and sharing their personal troubles. It is not a shame to come down to the mental level of your children however their ages and trying to guide them. There is also no harm in getting them out of the atmospheres of the home and school for the purposes of family entertainment from time to time. It is important to share time and play games so as to get closer to your children and use the style of persuasion to demonstrate the positive and negative consequences of desirable and unwanted behavior.

Dear parents, please know that you are a partner of the teacher and the school in educating, guiding, counseling, and raising your children. Your visits and participation to schools will consolidate the bonds of trust between home and the school. Through consultation with teachers, students’ behaviour is modified and they are placed on the fast track to a bright future in academics, potential careers, and life. This is what we all strive for as parents and educators.

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