Against the background of evidence that parent involvement benefits learners, parents, schools
and communities, a need has arisen for effective parent involvement strategies to be developed
particularly in rural and disadvantaged communities. A literature study investigated models of
parent involvement and the provision of education in North West Province. Barriers to parent
involvement in schools were also investigated.
A qualitative methodology was used to investigate parent involvement in three rural schools
in North West Province. Data were gathered by means of observation, semi-structured focus
group interviews with parents and educators and semi-structured in-depth interviews with
principals of participating schools. Thus parents and educators blame each other for lack of
participation. Other findings relate to the lack of resources and facilities in schools. Guidelines
for proper parent involvement were propo