Impact of parental involvement in education of children with autism spectrum disorder: a case study of HVP Gatagara Gikondo branch, a special school in Kicukiro District, Rwanda

Abstract

Parents are broadly acknowledged to be essential partners in the education of their children, with parental involvement being linked to positive impact on academic progress. Regrettably, poor parental involvement remains significant and unfortunate challenge in Rwandan primary special schools as well as a contributing factor to low students’ progress in schools. Therefore, the study was to explore how involved parents and teachers are in the education of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder(ASD) at Home de la Vièrge des Pauvres (HVP)-Gatagara Gikondo branch a primary special school in Kigali city province of Rwanda using Ecological system theory and Epstein’s theory of overlapping spheres of influence as a theoretical lens. The researcher employed the descriptive survey research design as an appropriate method of inquiry in the research and adopted Random Sampling techniques to parents, teachers, and administrators. The study was conducted on the target population of 77 participants that include 54 parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)- AS21 special educators, and 2 school administrators of HVP Gatagara/Gikondo branch. The study used simple sampling technique to select 5 teachers,5 parents and 2 administrators. Data for the study was obtained through questionnaires for teachers, semi-structured interviews conducted with the administrators and parents respectively and document analysis. The findings obtained revealed that parental involvement improves discipline and student progress. The researcher also reported on the ways in which parental involvement in education of children with ASD can be enhanced. However, various factors hindered parent involvement, such as the lack of confidence in providing assistance to children with homework, conflicts in home–school scheduling, ineffective communication, and reluctance to attend parent meetings and to serve on governance structures. The study recommends that both teachers and parents should establish good home-school relationships, teacher training for parent involvement should be organized, with schools developing a parent involvement program, so that a feasible collaborative partnership can be established between school and home.