Education is the cornerstone of a nation’s progress and development. As children enter adolescence, real-world concerns like income, independence and influence come to the fore, and education starts to play a tangible role in determining life success.
One of the biggest issues that lead to low participation and high drop-outs is the perception that school learning does not prepare students for the job market. Adolescence is also a formative period during which children must be encouraged and empowered to become constructive members of a society that promotes peace, reconciliation and resilience.
The number of children dropping out of school had decreased from 39,899 in 2012 to 19,924 in 2021, Minister of Education, Susil Premajayantha told Parliament.
The number of students dropping out of school from 2012 to 2021 is as follows: 2012 – 39,899; 2013 – 37,687; 2014 – 34,358; 2015 – 30,055; 2016 – 31,539; 2017 – 28,225; 2018 – 26,077, 2019 – 27,590; 2020 – 22,765 and 2021 – 19,924.He added that there are 6,661 vocational training courses available for school leavers.
The Minister said 124,419 students were trained under vocational training courses in 2020. The number was 144, 919 in 2021 and 166,418 in 2022.He added there are 39 technical colleges in Sri Lanka at present and 32,682 students are undergoing training at these institutions.“Among these are 24,413 enrolled in 2023,” he said.
Significantly reducing the number of students who drop out of school takes a combination of efforts at the community, district, school, classroom, and individual student levels.
Effective Strategies to Reduce Dropout Rates
Targeted Support for At-Risk Students: Identifying students at risk of dropping out and providing them with personalised support, including counselling and tutoring, can help them overcome challenges and stay in school. Schools can establish dedicated counselling cells that support struggling students emotionally and academically.
Vocational Training and Skill Development: Introducing vocational training programmes in schools can equip students with practical skills, making them more employable and reducing the likelihood of dropping out. After 1.30pm schools in every zone must be have the option of connecting their students with NVQ courses and certificates.
Flexible Learning Options: Offering flexible learning options, such as part-time schooling or distance education, can accommodate students who face time constraints due to economic responsibilities. The government can partner with educational institutions and ed-tech platforms to develop flexible learning models tailored to individual student needs. Education should be taken to community settings. The Education Ministry in provinces, community Police and where they are present in numbers the armed forces can play a coordinated role picking locations, identifying beneficiaries and providing the settings.
Tracking and Monitoring Systems: Implementing robust tracking and monitoring systems can help identify dropout trends and design interventions accordingly. The writer has a favoured approach towards students in the bottom 50 % in ranking in class for focus.
Collaboration with NGOs and the Private Sector: Partnering with non-governmental organisations and private companies can bring additional resources and expertise to support education initiatives, especially in underserved areas. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives can be harnessed to invest in education infrastructure and support programmes that reduce dropout rates.
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Reducing Dropout Rates: Challenges and Solutions
High dropout rates remain a significant impediment to achieving universal education. Various factors contribute to this issue:
Economic Factors: Poverty forces many children to leave school and work to support their families. Providing financial incentives to families, such as conditional cash transfers, can help reduce the economic burden and encourage families to prioritize education.
Lack of Interest and Relevance: Some children drop out due to a lack of interest in the curriculum, which they may find irrelevant to their daily lives. Implementing a more practical and skill-based curriculum can make education more engaging and attractive.
Quality of Education: Poor-quality education leads to disinterest among students, prompting them to drop out. Improving the quality of education through better infrastructure, well-trained teachers, and interactive teaching methods can help retain students.
Migration and Mobility: Children of migrant families often face disruptions in their education due to frequent relocations. Creating a robust system that allows seamless education transfer across different locations can mitigate this challenge.
Early Marriage: In some regions, early marriage remains a prevalent issue, resulting in young girls dropping out of school. Raising awareness about the harmful effects of child marriage and enforcing laws against it can help prevent early dropouts.
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Key Components of Dropout Prevention Programs
* Personal/affective (e.g., retreats designed to enhance self-esteem, regularly scheduled classroom-based discussion, individual counselling, participation in an interpersonal relations class);
* Academic (e.g., provision of special academic courses, individualized methods of instruction, tutoring);
* Family outreach (e.g., strategies that include increased feedback to parents or home visits);
* School structure (e.g., implementation of school within a school, re-definition of the role of the homeroom teacher, reducing class size, creation of an alternative school); and
* Work related (e.g., vocational training, participation in volunteer or service programs).
Jeevan Thiagarajah