2024-02-16 13:42:56
Parents overwhelmingly consider private tutoring necessary because the school is unable to provide good enough preparation for the exams after 7th and 12th grade. Half of parents intend to enroll their children in private lessons for the application after 7th grade (48%), and one in ten have already done so (9% of parents of children in 6th and 9% of parents of children in 7th grade). Almost 1/4 have no intention of enrolling their children (23%), and according to another 1/10 of parents, their children manage on their own. As for applying after 12th grade, even more parents intend to enroll their children in lessons – about 67% or 2/3.
This is shown by a nationally representative study of the association “Parents”, presented at a forum on the interaction between the school and the family. It was conducted between September and October 2023 by the “Noema” agency among 807 parents of children between the 1st and 12th grades.
Student discipline is the most frequently cited problem in education by parents – even bigger than overloaded study material. 45% of the parents who participated in the study believe that the problem with discipline is the most serious of all. It shows that parents are strongly conservative, with nearly 70% of them in favor of measures such as bringing back behavior assessment and empowering teachers to punish children more.
“The appeal to coercion and violence in a given system is a signal that those in power, in this case – adults, are unable to deal with their children in any other way – either because of a lack of capacity or because of the attitude that children should be acts strictly”, commented the “Parents” Association. They note that the survey data alone cannot tell whether parents blame the school for poor discipline, or how much they actually want support from the school to deal with it. However, it is clear that parents see difficulties in how to impose on children the behavior they consider correct.
In second place as a problem (40%), parents indicate the excessive amount of learning material and the way it is presented – not so much from the point of view of the teachers, but rather in the textbooks, which for the parents are too much. Parents of children in junior high school complain most often about overloaded learning material (48%), according to whom the poorly presented material in the textbooks comes in second place (35%). Too many textbooks (29%) and poorly presented material in textbooks (28%) were placed second, mostly as a problem for parents of children in I-IV grades. Arbitrary “reforms” of the Ministry of Education and Culture are also perceived as a major problem (28%), most clearly stated among parents of high school students.
As for teachers, 37% of parents do not think that there are problems related to them in education. This statement gathers the fewest mentions in Sofia (23%), and the most – in the villages (50%). When it comes to problems related to teachers, the leading one is not criticism of their quality as professionals, but above all the lack of young teachers (24%), and this is seen as a problem most acutely in Sofia (34%) and weakest in small towns and villages (18-20%).
However, problems with the quality of teaching are also indicated. Two key problems were cited equally often – the poorly presented teaching material by teachers (20%) and that they are conservative and do not prepare children for what lies ahead (19%). The claim that teachers are unprepared is stated by 15% of parents, and the lack of respect for children on the part of teachers – by 12% of parents, while in Sofia this share is 19%.
39% of parents think it’s normal to help with homework. Parents with younger children and those with lower incomes are more inclined to find this normal, while older parents, those from the capital and with incomes over BGN 3,000 per month are less likely to agree. Another large group of parents (39%) think that helping with homework is normal if it is occasional. Almost 1/5 do not consider this practice normal, as it shows that the child does not understand the lesson.
Most parents help with homework 1-2 times a week (34%), another 28% – 3-4 times a week or every day. One fifth help between once and three times a month, and 18% never. A higher than average share are parents of children in I-IV grades (40%), who help 3-4 times a week or every day, and the lowest share is among parents of high school students. The highest proportions of parents who never help with homework are parents of high school students (47%) and parents living in rural areas (26%).
The majority of parents state that they have no problem with their children studying with “different” children, but about 1/3 have other opinions. 14% see children of different sexuality as problematic. Every tenth parent (11%) considers children of Roma ethnic origin to be problematic, and 7% are categorical that they do not want their children to be near “different” children at all. Their share is slightly higher than the national average in villages (12%) and lower (3%) – in regional cities.