How parental education and literacy skill levels affect the education of their wards: The case of two schools in the Effutu municipality of Ghana

Abstract

The study sought to explore how parents‟ level of education and literacy skills affect their children’s basic education within the context of cultural capital theory.To achieve the objectives of this study, a case study design was employed which comprised the use of interviews with twelve parents and twelve teachers in two school communities in the Winneba East educational circuit of the Effutu Municipality of Ghana.The population of the study consisted of all parents in the Effutu Municipality in the Central Region of Ghana. A snowball sampling technique was used to select the individual parents for the study. The data were analysed through coding to identify themes.The study reveals that most parents were aware of the benefits of education but the reality of their lives including educational and literacy challenges affected involvement in their children’s basic education.In-spite of this handicap, most parents relied on extended families and community members for assistance.Thus, when parents are eager to see their wards through formal education, their own illiterate status does not become a handicap. Consequently, the study recommends that policies on education decentralization must reflect greater consideration of contextual factors including formal education and literacy skill levels which impact on parental involvement in children‟s basic education.