ABSTRACT
Education for a child is more than institutional provision. The relationship of parents to schools must be set in the broader context of parents’ role in their child’s total learning experience. Public pronouncements often equate education with schooling and unfortunately for some children it suits many adults to concur. Yet the goals of education, whether they be individual development, equality of opportunity, national prosperity, civic stability or any other, can only be approached if all the main educative forces are included. Schools alone cannot educate our children or solve our social problems. Perceptions about education precondition action, and a paradigm shift which recognises the impact of the family in general and parents in particular is, arguably, needed as a prelude to educational advance.
