Parents have a great role in fostering children’s education that determines their future. The role and efforts of the parents to be aware to their children personality is important that expected children can grow up well and develop properly. Islam explained that children are God’s mandate that should not be neglected. It is the obligation of parents to maintain and care for their children in accordance with the norms and Islamic values. Darajad (1996) states the relationship between parents and children is affecting children’s live. Both the good and worse of the child’s mental growth depend to their parents. Parents play a very important role in education and guidance to children because it is crucial for increasing children’s achievement.
Hasbullah (2001: 39) states that parents are the first and foremost responsible for child’s survival and education. Therefore, as parents should be able to help and support to all efforts made by the children and can provide informal education to assist the growth and development of the child in order to attend or continue their education at the school educational program. There are some roles of parents that must be implemented in children’s education, they are;
1. Parents as role models
Children always look in the mirror or take an example and lean towards the nearest environment. In this case the family environment is the parents. Parents should set a good example in all their activities because children take their parents as a model. Parents’ attitude and behavior should reflect the noble spirit. (Thabarani, 1994).
2. Parents as motivator
Children are motivated to move and act because encouragement from others, especially from parents. It is necessary for children who still need a boost. Motivation can formed encouragement, rewards, gift or reasonable expectation that can obtain further satisfactory performance. In this case, as motivator, parents should encourage children in all their activities, for example by promising to reward their child when he is success in exam. The purpose of giving reward here is to motivate their child and encourage them be more active in learning (Thabarany, 1994).
3. Parents as primary figure
Children always need and expects to their parents to be their figure. Its need a harmonious relationship and intimate between parent and children. Parents have to provide spare times sufficiently to discuss with their children about various issues, whether related to education or personality. This is the role of parents which can determine children characters. Children will take either a good example or bad example from their figure (Falsafi, 2003:83).
4. Parents as facilitator
Education is expected to work well and children will achieve their success with available of facility. But it does not necessarily mean that parents have to force themselves to provide all the luxury facility to gain the success. However, at least parents can provide the basic required facility of children’s need in education. In this case, of course it is determined by the economic condition of each parent (Falsafi, 2003:87).
Slameto (2010:21) states that parent who do not care with their children’s education, for instance with students’ learning, children’s need in learning, managing schedule of learning, complete the facilities, the difficulties that faced by their children, in learning and so on caused the students get failure in their achievement.