ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the ways in which parents and local communities are engaged in formal schools and the education of their children as well as the effects a greater engagement has and could have on the entire formal educational system. To determine the parents' and local community's formal and informal engagement in different school activities, the book analyzes the data collected from interviews and the school administrative documents regarding Students' Parents' Associations, School Management Board, Students' Mothers' Association, and other related documents. This helped me triangulate other data collected as well. Analysis of the data collected addresses the school organizations that include local communities, shows to what extent parents are actually involved in the school life and teaching/learning process, in which activities are they mostly involved, what prevents some of them from engaging, what can be done to increase their involvement, and whether their integration into school administration and involvement in school activities could benefit the formal schools.
