Parental Absence Is The Major Cause Of Poor Performance In School

Pupils at Bright Future Academy have been given mentorship from Okal Foundations’ Smile Na Toto program, which allows the learners to air out their grievances in their quest for education.

During the mentorship at the school in Rachuonyo South in Homa Bay County, the innocent learners identified parental absence as the primary obstacle they faced, as the Competency-Based Curriculum demands a lot of input from parents.

Parental absence is mainly caused by the challenging economic times, which have denied the pupils the luxury of parental attention, rendering them ‘parentless’.

According to Maurine Okal of the Okal Care Foundation, poverty rates in the country have made parents push so hard to put food on their tables that they have forgotten the essential role they play in their children’s lives.

“The economy is not friendly lately and parents tend to come back late and tired from our hustles, this deprives us from physically, mentally and emotionally connecting with our children and this affects their education and their mental health generally,” said Mrs Okal.

On the other hand, Project Director Redeemed Gospel Church Child Development Centre Betsy Kapere added that the lack of a mutual connection between parents and children, especially during decision-making, has added to the challenges children face in pursuit of education.

“We are failing as parents when we do not include our children in decision making. Parents should sit down with their children to discuss issues directly affecting them to get to know how they feel about the issues,” Kopere said.

Mrs Kapere also said that the program has trained parents to equip them with the necessary skills to exercise their parental duties fairly and connect with their children.

There are cases where pupils drop out of school or take their own lives because they feel unheard and that their view on what suits them does not matter, so they end up quitting school or taking themselves out of the situation by hanging themselves,” Mrs Kapere added.

The head teacher of Bright Future Academy Mr Ray Okomo reiterated that lack of finances and basic needs had been a notable obstacle he has witnessed as a head teacher.

“CBC demands a lot from parents and pupils especially on the practical subjects where parents and pupils meet at equilibrium of the demands and poverty rates at home have made basic needs like food scarce,” Mr.Okomo said.

In light of CBC challenges, Ruth Ong’udi, a teacher at Bright Future Academy, said that the environment at home largely affects the pupils’ behaviour in school, which can lead to poor performance.

“Absentee parents contribute to poor behaviors we encounter in school, children go home to seek for attention but it is not given and they end up coming back with that baggage to school which jeopardizes their academics,” Madam Ong’udi said.

As parents continue to dig deeper into their pockets in a bid to provide quality education, they forget their roles as parents, which hinders their children's productivity in school. Children need to be heard, and they need parental presence to succeed in all fields.