CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF DROPOUT AMONG STUDENTS

CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF DROPOUT AMONG STUDENTS

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

In the ancient time, we have formal or traditional educational system which Nigerian’s or indigenous people used to educate their own children this is what has been called occupational education before the coming of the Europeans and their western education to Nigerian. The purpose of this type of education was to make the young ones grow up in such a way that, they will understand the society into which they were born, acquired the knowledge, skill understand the attitude and appreciate the culture.  However the general education sill have area of specialization which includes palm fruit, hunting, carpentering, etc.

As a result of the missionary activities in Nigeria, a formal type of education was established with the aim of training people who can read, understand and interpret the bible.  The aim also was to produce people who would be of service too the member of the trinity of colonialism and church.  The white collar jobs which the formal education provided, made many citizen to attend schools, some of them did not complete their educational career due to economics, social and physical handicaps which will be exhaustively dealt with in subsequent chapters.Every year a great number of students dropout of school due to some factors such as ill health, attitude of teacher and peer group influence. Those who drooped out of school constitute nuisance in the society. They can either be found roaming in the street or seeking for opportunity to steal. However a lot of these dropouts involves themselves in crimes and eventually end up in prison and in extreme cases executed for armed robbery offence.

Globally, more than a hundred million still do not have any access to schooling, mostly in poor countries. This lack of basic education means that young people have fewer choices and opportunities, thus, making it harder for countries in the developing world or third world countries especially in Africa and in Nigeria in particular, to achieve sustainable development and efforts to tackle poverty and diseases which are associated with high level of illiteracy in the country. Oladunni (2004) says, “Primary schooling for every child has only been achieved in fifty countries mostly the developed countries of the world. A further fifty-seven countries are currently experiencing a number of difficulties which are preventing them from meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in education”. The millennium Development Goals on education is to ensure that by year 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike will be able to access quality education. Unfortunately, the rate at which young people drop out of school prematurely is also one of such problems bedeviling the success of the MDGs by the year 2015. Almost all less Developed Countries (LDCs) are concerned about the problem of low school completion rate. This issue is actually generated by many different perspectives but the difficulty from a policy perspective, however, is not uncertainly 9 about the desirability of increasing completion, instead it is of lack of fundamental information about why students drop out of school. Despite the several policies today, the dropouts’ figures are always dramatic and startling. The percentage of dropout varies from country to country, state to state, and from community to community. The dropouts and the increase in youth involvement in crimes and other forms of violence activities spur out the researcher’s interest in this particular area. In Nigeria today, quite a number of policies are undertaken by government and other stakeholders in the educational system at different intervals and other innovations in the system to make educational opportunities affordable, admirable and desirable by all and for all. These efforts over the years look more of theory than practical. Lagan (2007), buttresses this point in his work emphasizing that “school drop out… still remain a marked feature of our educational system, especially at our elementary and secondary levels of education”. The policy focuses on school completion and dropouts’ behaviour. Remarkably little is known about the underlying determinants of school dropout. While completion levels and aggregate on the age-grade distribution of students provide some over all sense of the dropout situation, they are however insufficient for the investigation of underlying factors responsible for the high rate of dropouts.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

        here are several patterns of educational wastage. In some school systems, educational wastage means that there are insufficient vacant places in the next class or the next level of school for all children who want to continue schooling. There is also much educational wastage between the primary and secondary school levels in Nigeria due to limited secondary school places; for example, the common entrance examination is primarily aimed at selecting capable candidates for secondary education. Mallum (1981) observes that “another form of educational wastage is the repeats and dropouts, or premature withdrawal of students from schools. This means that school places remain unfilled because large numbers of children fail to continue 11 at school. In this sense, there is much educational wastage in Nigerian schools for in spite of the provisions made for such students to stay in school, they refuse to continue their schooling.Indeed, dropouts are a menace to any society, especially in Nigeria where their situation is helplessly looked upon with disdain. Consequently, criminal record revealed that “most of those involved are mostly potential dropouts or the dropout themselves. Therefore, the unending problem of dropout has thus increased youth involvement in crimes and all forms of anti-social activities as the resultant effects” (Ubogu, 2004).   In carrying out this study, it is necessary to identify the possible causes and effect of school dropout among students of College of Education, Ekiadolor-Benin include:- Financial problem could hamper schooling, Loss of parents or sponsor could hinder school, unhealthy human relationships in school, quarrel, hatred, fighting etc can cause dropout among College of Education Students and if low mental ability can make a student to dropout of school.

1.3 PURPOSE OF STUDY

1. The researcher work has as its main objective the causes and effect of school dropout among students of College of Education, Ekiadolor-Benin.

2. The researcher wants to know the problem face by students in school which lead to dropout.

3.The researcher wants to find solution to the problems of school dropout among College of Education, Ekiadolor-Benin.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION

  To provide solution to the stated problem, the following research questions, were put forward:

1.    Do students dropout because of financial problem to meet their basic needs?

2. Does broken home cause students to dropout of students from school?

3.  Does poor students and teacher’s relationship cause school dropout?

4.To what extent does participation in secret cults cause dropout in secondary school?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

          The significance is that, it will help us to produce manpower needed in our society and also how to minimize the causes and effect of dropout in secondary school.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study is limited to College of Education, Ekiadolor-Benin. The sample will be four secondary schools. The subject will be one hundred students. Twenty five each from four schools selected. The study will also involve some principals and teachers of the schools to be visited.

1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS

School dropout: Means student who after gaining admission into secondary school due to one reason or another are unable to complete their school career.

Delinquency: Illegal or immoral behaviour especially by young people.

Hooligan: Rough person who fight and makes noise in the streets.

 In chastised: Not discipline

 Permissive: Act of allowing

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