a study in rural malawi found that parents have many concerns regarding a daughters schooling even before puberty grant lack of safety in schools the negative influence of classmates perceptions of sexual activity and loss of parental control shape parental predictions about how long daughters would remain in school and weakened parental motivation to encourage them to do so for example in south africa a survey of parent engagement in their childrens schooling found that the parents gender age living standard and marital status all had an influence with younger mothers participating most and fathers least mmotlane winnaar kivilu ethnographic research in south africa suggests other factors underlying parental detachment from educational institutions include low literacy levels teachers high status in the community and assumptions around the inherent quality of education