Parental engagement in two Maltese state colleges : a case study

Abstract

In 2006, The Act to Amend the Education Act Cap. 327 (Laws of Malta, 2006) made provisions to sustain and augment the then-existing school-parent partnership. This study examines the current partnership between schools and parents in two Maltese State Colleges and the perceived challenges to nurturing, enriching, and sustaining collaboration between the schools and the parent community. The history of Education in Malta reveals a pattern of fragmented initiatives between schools and parents. For example, the establishment of the College Board of Governors, a tenet of the aforementioned Act, was never implemented after its enactment and is not even mentioned in the Education Act, CAP 605, ACT XXIX of 2019 (Laws of Malta, 2022). The data were collected through questionnaires administered to teachers and parents. Convenience and purposive sampling methods were used to recruit participants. We explored educators’ and parents’ positions on parental involvement and participation in their children's education, as well as the issues and challenges they encountered in sustaining such partnerships. The study seeks to advance understanding of these issues and challenges and to propose a way forward to address the missing link in the structure contemplated by the 2006 and 2019 Acts.