Evaluating Stakeholder Participation in Public Services: Parents and Schools

One of the most important aspects of recent education reforms in England and Wales is the encouragement of parental participation in schools. Parents were empowered as individual consumers in the education market and also gained management positions on school governing bodies. The recent White Papers in education further develops the parental role and recognises the position of parents as key stakeholders in education.This paper highlights the divergence between the rhetoric and the reality concerning parents as stakeholders in education.Behind a facade of parental stakeholding lies a reality which indicates that parents do not actively participate in education.