Links Between Parents and Schools

It is imperative for modern-age parents to constantly bear in mind that their responsibility for their child's education does not end merely with getting him/her admitted in a reputed schools and paying his/her fees on time. Nor does it end with attending parent- teacher meetings and checking progress reports. Rather it involves all this and more.

With students

Parents can help in the multifarious activities and functions going on in the school all round the year, in more ways than one. For instance, they could share information with students, teachers or a class about general health, information about an upcoming career, or a hobby. Moreover you could disseminate personalised information to the students about a place or country you visited or lived in. Interact with students to induce the importance of human/social values in them. Try tutoring one or a small group of students in reading, developing skills, coach students taking part in an academic competition, quiz, debate, decalamtion etc. Similarly you could coach an athletic or sports team for a particular game, which you were good/proficient in.



This list is virtually endless. You could perform any or all of the following: Demonstrate art/dance/music/cooking from a particular area /country or culture to students. This will enhance their knowledge about the world. Try sharing a particular expertise with the school's faculty, e.g. use of computers, dealing with disruptive students. Help students plan and build an outdoor garden, rockery, cacti collection or a similar project to beautify the outside of the school.

These days, high school students undergo a lot of stress and strain, tensions and emotional turmoil, in their everyday lives and more particularly during their final examinations. This is where you, as a concerned and sympathetic parent, could step in and help the students in relieving stress.

With other parents



Share your views with other parents about the quality of education in the school. Give other parents some tips for develop their parenting skills. Help conduct a class for parents where they can learn methods of being stronger and better parents. If you do possess some literary skills you could produce some written articles /materials for parents on ways they can be more effective parents. Even otherwise, try to write, publish, and distribute a list of parenting tips. Whenever you get an opportunity, serve on an advisory or decision-making committee, serve as an officer in the school's PTA. Help design a parent or student survey for the school. Ensure that such surveys get conducted in an effective manner.

How can I contribute my time towards the welfare
of my children' s school?

* Help and organise study tours for the students to business organisations, industries, corporate houses production centres and similar places where the students can gather information and learn about various activities.
* Help set up an internship or apprenticeship for a student at your business, organization, or agency.
* Host a one-day 'shadow study' for a few small group of senior students about career prospects in business world or corporate organization.
* Go on a local field trip with a teacher and a group of students.
* Alternatively go on an extended cross-country field trip with a teacher & students.
* Contact a particular local business houses and organization regarding possible cooperation.

Is it possible to do some PR work for my child's school?

Yes, you could try out some or all of the means, underlined below:

* Contact a particular local business or organization regarding possible cooperation.
* Write a letter to the government officials about the school.
* Write a letter to school board members about the school, suggesting some improvements and developments
* Go to another school to provide information about this school.
* Help translate information regarding the school into a language other than English or vice -versa.
* Help translate at a parent-teacher conference for people who don't speak English well and/or vice-versa.
* Write an article about the school's activities and salient features and get it published in one or more reputed periodicals.
* Help arrange for a political leader (mayor/MLA/MP/Governor, city council/ state representative) to visit the school to preside over a function or event.

Can I financially contribute to the development of the school where my ward studies?

Outlined below are some simple methods in which you could do this:

* Help to finalise a proposal to the local or governing body that would bring new resources to the school.
* Donate materials to the school.
* Arrange for a business establishment or an industrial to donate useful materials and utility items to the school.
* Organise a fundraiser for the school, from time to time

40 students fall ill after mid-day meal

Nearly 40 students of a Chhattisgarh government school fell ill on Thursday after they ate a mid-day meal into which a lizard had fallen, an official said. The incident took place at Abhanpur block in Raipur district, some 30 km from here. The official said some 38 of the 156 students up to Class 5 of the Singarbhata village government primary school started vomiting after eating the lunch. "There is a report that a lizard was found in the meal. It looks like a case of food poisoning," District Collector Sanjay Garg told reporters. An investigation has been ordered, he said. The sick students were taken to a health centre, where the condition of some of them was stated to be critical.

ATKT students' admissions delayed further

The Bombay High Court on Thursday has put a stay on the admissions of the Allowed to Keep Terms (ATKT) students for junior college after blowing the 90:10 quota favouring state board students. The order has come as a set back for more than one lakh students who were initially declared eligible for admissions this year despite of failing in a subject or two in board exams. The next date of hearing is August 27. The stay was announced in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a right-wing students' organization Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). The student wing alleged that the government had initiated the scheme in haste, without even making the required provisions both constitutionally and in terms of infrastructure. Shailendra Dalvi, Mumbai Secretary of ABVP, said, "The city colleges do not have the seats or proper infrastructure to accommodate these many students. The decision by the court was taken abruptly and late. Students have already lost a month. While admissions for these one lakh students were to commence only after opening of colleges on August 10, they would have far less than the 230 working days required for completing their portions". The stay has dashed many students' hopes of not losing a year. In its litigation, ABVP points out that no amendments were made in the by-laws of the Maharashtra Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education to introduce such a scheme. It also states that such a law will violate Article 19 of the Constitution, which supports equality for all. However, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, Education Minister, said, "The court wants us to show we have adequate infrastructural facilities, which we can prove. There are certain directives which are given to the state board, to be fulfilled by the next date of hearing. Since it is the court's ruling, we do not have any say in delayed admissions."