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Conference
2008 Safe
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Highlights
of previous SSBA conferences :-
2007 Developing a
Parent Council and Encouraging Parental Involvement
2006 The Way Forward
for Parental Involvement
2005 Parents in
Partnership
2003 Partnerships and
responsibilities
2002 SSBA is fit for
the future
2001 Roadshow
2000 International
and published book
available here online
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Conference 2000Slovak Republic
Participation of Parents in
Decision Making in
Schools of the Slovak Republic
1.1
Introduction
"Parents
are starting to get rid of fear to say their opinions
and they are beginning to express their needs,"
responded a headteacher of a primary school in the
survey on "Efficiency of schooling and the
resource management in education in the Slovak
Republic", which was conducted under the
auspices of UNESCO in 1993. This statement embodies
the substantial change in attitudes of teachers, and
also of parents to school education after the
democratic changes which took place in Slovakia in
1989. From this year on, citizens began to
participate more in the community life and in its
management. The trend emerged according to which
people who are affected by decision making
participate themselves in the decision making
process.
In the
school, in which the education of children and youths
takes place, the participation in decision making
about educational matters concerns also the parents
of children. They constitute the main and the
greatest partner of the school. The participation of
parents in decision making about educational matters
has some special characteristics.
According
to the constitution and the laws parents or
guardians of children, in addition of other
functions (biological, social, cultural and
economic) must take responsibilities in the
education of their children. In the case of
functional families this increases the
involvement of parents in school management.
Parents have frequently approached the school
problems emotionally rather than rationally.
This, however, decreases their participation
in solving relevant problems of education in
the school or in the particular class.
Parents
have no delineated professional roles in the
education of their children in school and in
the majority of cases - which is natural -
they do not have adequate formal educational
training. This prevents them from
comprehending thoroughly the goals of the
school system and, in particular, the goal of
the school. On the contrary, this barrier
makes parents free to employ their individual
interests in planning the prospective
educational carrier of their children.
The
new relationship of parents to the school
alters more slowly than is required by new
educational ideas. Rather, a more significant
shift is achieved by the establishment of
their professional positions in the emerging
labour market. The new class of successful
businessmen is more aggressive in pushing
their needs forward in the education of their
children in return for providing financial or
material support for the school. This kind of
participation of parents in running the
school brings forward the ethics of
management. Most probably it will require
passing the new legislation to make it more
fair.
Opening
the school to its environment, in particular
to the participation of parents in decision
making also affects also the attitudes of
teachers co-operating with parents. In some
cases teachers cannot tolerate that they are
no longer the single authority in education
of children in school and consider the
participation of parents to be an
interference in their professional territory.
On the other hand parents appreciate if they
can observe and evaluate the instruction.
They value even more when they are invited by
school administrators or teachers to share
professional discussions with them.
2.1 The
current state of participation of parents in decision
making
Under
the constitution of the Slovak Republic of 1992,
parents have rights to care about the education of
their children (Article 41, Section 4) as well as the
right to receive assistance by the state in the
education of children (Article 41, Section 5).
Since
the formal education of their children takes part in
school, the constitution implies that parents have
the right to participate in decisions about education
of their children.
Parents
have rights to participate in decisions in school by
immediately responding to a given situation and by
asking whether or not the school is functioning well;
their recommendations, or complaints, have a great
degree of legitimacy. However, they are more
respected if their opinions and attitudes are
presented by a certain parents’ organisation.
Prior to
1990, when political changes in the Slovak Republic
began, parents were organised in Association of
Parents and Friends of the School. This was a
voluntary organisation of parents in every school.
Its aim was to develop co-operation of the family and
the school in education matters of their children. In
addition to parents their members were also other
interested persons, labelled "friends of the
school". Their task was to harmonise
relationships between the school and the family, to
instruct parents through lectures and discussions
about educational issues, assist the school in the
care of neglected children, and help in organising
the leisure activities.
Within
the Association of Parents and Friends of the School
there were also commissions constituted according to
needs of the school. The Association of Parents and
Friends of the School could not directly affect the
management of the school - this was in the charge of
the school administration.
The
first organisations of parents were established in
this country as early as in 1930. During the
communist period (1948 - 1989) these organisations
were misused by the governing powers for political
and ideological purposes. This was done through
lectures for parents on Marxist -Leninist principles
in education. Under these circumstances these parent
organisations had practically no rights to
participate in decisions about educational matters in
schools.
After
the political changes in 1989 activities of the
Association of Parents and Friends of the School were
terminated. Since 1990 a new voluntary organisation
of parents, called Parents Associations, were
gradually established. First, they were initiated by
the school administration, later it was the newly
created Slovak Council of Parents’ Associations.
The main
aim of the Slovak Council of Parents’
Associations is to promote co-operation of parents
with schools that are attended by their children. As
the Slovak Council of Parents’ Associations
represents the parents who are partners of the school
its further aim is to co-operate with public
administration in education in passing of legislature
on the school system, as is implied from the European
Charter of Parents’ Rights. Its purpose is to
make parents familiar with their rights and with
their children’s rights, as well as with the
duties related to the education of children. Also,
its task is to raise the awareness of parents who
are, in fact, the first educators of their children.
The
Slovak Council of Parents’ Associations has
suggested a by-law for Parents’ Associations,
which can be adopted to needs of a particular school.
According
to this by-law Parents’ Associations in schools
are independent voluntary organisations of parents,
or guardians of children. They serve as a forum to
express opinions on the functioning of the school, to
present proposals or complaints and to receive
information of how these proposals have been dealt
with.
Also
according to this by-law, Parents’ Associations
are legal entities, they can establish legal
relationships with other entities and are responsible
for matters inferred from these relationships. Their
tasks are:
to
co-operate with the staff of the school in
providing quality education for children,
which is based on principles of humanism,
patriotism, democracy and on research
findings
to
exercise the protection of the rights of
children, which are embedded in the UNESCO
Declaration of Children’s Rights,
to
advocate the interests of parents of the
children, as per the Family Law,
to
provide protection for teachers as per the
moral code from some pressure groups,
to
support the effort of the school, teachers
and the non-educational staff in the
instructional process,
The
tasks of Parents’ Associations include:
to
identify opinions, ideas, suggestions and
requirements of parents concerning the
education of children in school,
through
their representatives, to negotiate with the
headteacher, teachers and other staff about
educational issues, while respecting each
other, in the context of the shared
responsibility for the education of the
pupil,
to
co-operate with citizens’ initiatives,
childrens’ and youth organisations and
school administration offices,
to
promote the implementation of new elements
and the latest research findings for
improving the instructional process,
to
take part in the solving of some behavioural
problems of pupils and in protecting children
from detrimental effects,
to
assist in out-of- school education,
especially in organising out of school
activities,
to
co-operate in providing technological
facilities for the school,
to
nominate representatives of Parents’
Associations for the School Council, which is
the self-governing body of parents,
to
establish the School Council, which assists
the school in legal, methodological and
professional matters.
Parents
of children in every class establish the Class
Parents’ Association. It discusses topical and
controversial problems in education of pupils as well
as other activities of pupils in a particular class.
The All-School
Parents’ Association consists of all parents
of children of a particular school. It sets the main
goals of education which is focused especially on the
moral education of children and youth. Amongst the
agenda for its meetings are the implementation of
tasks arising from regulations for organisation of
instruction in the particular academic year, issued
by the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic.
The
Parents’ Council consists of representatives of
parents of individual classes. It is elected in the
meetings of Class Parents’ Association. The
Parents’ Council discusses the relevant problems
and issues of education of pupils of the whole
school. Specifically it concentrates on,
responding
to suggestions of parents; by doing this it
co-ordinates the activities of Class
Parents’ Associations,
co-operating
with the School Board, school administrators,
and other educational staff who are invited,
if needed, to participate in its meetings,
co-operating
with the organisations of children and of the
community,
organising
leisure, cultural and sports events of pupils
and parents.
According
to Act No. 542/1990 on Public Administration in the
School System and School self-governing Bodies self
governing bodies are being established in schools and
districts. In particular, there are School Boards in
schools and in districts there are District School
Boards. Parents are elected to be members of these
self-governing authorities. Parents can use them to
manage a range of activities: they may assist the
school in providing resources and technology for the
school, in protecting children from detrimental
effects, in pushing forward the interests of the
school in self-governing bodies, in involving
beyond-school agencies - community organisations,
social organisations, cultural organisations and also
businesses in school matters.
Through
the School Board parents who are members of the
School Board, can present their opinions on:
the enrolment of pupils,
academic fields offered by
the school.
adaptation of curricula,
the structure of electives and
facultative subjects, the number of
pupils therein,
information about
organisation and resources of the school,
the annual school report,
the annual report on the
school budget, presented by the
headteacher.
The
District School Boards can:
In the
Slovak Republic there is no central school board or
national school board in which parents are
represented, having consultative or decision making
powers, and which could negotiate on significant
school and educational issues with the Ministry of
Education.
4.1
Conclusion
With the
exception of the survey which has been mentioned in
the beginning of this chapter (which covered only 6
primary schools from several regions of Slovakia),
participation of parents in decision making in
educational matters in schools has not been
investigated in great detail. We do not have accurate
data on the effects of the new legislature and its
implementation for schools concerning decision making
of parents. However it is clear that both parents and
teachers must be prepared to be much more involved as
citizens in school decision making.
Zuzana
Kollarikova
Zdenko Obdrzalek
References
Kollarikova,
Z.: Efektivnost’ skolovania a riadenie zdrojov
vychovy a vzdelavania (Efficiency of schooling and
resource management in education in the Slovak
Republic) Paris, OECD 1995. In:Ucitel’ v
demokratickej spolocnost. Brno 1993
Constitution
of the Slovak Republic. Governmental Gasette,
Bratislava 1992.
Act No.
542/1990 of the Slovak National Council on Public
Administration in the School System and School
Self-Governing Bodies
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