Introduction
According to the OECD, "school dropout is rarely a sudden event: it is the result of a cumulative process of disengagement".
Indeed, school dropout is a process, a gradual event that is often triggered by seemingly harmless elements, often overlooked either out of ignorance of the warning signs or because those around the pupil do not know how to approach the problem. Sometimes, too, the family context, with overwhelmed parents, or the school context, with overwhelmed teachers, leads to symptoms being ignored even when they are observed.
In this article, I propose a tour of the factors behind school dropout, a look at a few figures together, and then some possible solutions.
I – The factors behind school dropout and their consequences
1 – The factors
The factors behind school dropout are quite varied and diverse. To read them better, it seems relevant to group them by category.
| INDIVIDUAL FACTORS | FAMILY / ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS |
|---|---|
| Low self-esteem; personal sense of failure, lack of motivation, feeling that one's life has no meaning; mental health problems (anxiety, depression); early learning difficulties that are unidentified or not addressed | Lack of schooling of parents or those around, or a low level of education; lack of educational support at home; family instability; economic precarity; overload of some children, notably in rural areas, who have to farm and look after the house at the same time |
| SCHOOL FACTORS | SOCIETAL FACTORS |
| Feeling of exclusion or stigmatisation; difficult relationships with teachers; discouragement caused by rankings and the assessment system | Economic and social precarity that creates many temptations: delinquency, gangs, drugs, alcoholism…; group effects / following the crowd; attractive early work in some countries; forced labour in some environments where children are exploited from a young age |
2 – The consequences
| FOR THE INDIVIDUAL | FOR SOCIETY |
|---|---|
| Limited access to the labour market; heightened risk of unemployment, precarity and poverty; vulnerability to social inequalities; psychosocial fragility (marginalisation, loss of confidence) | Loss of human capital (trained workforce); economic cost varying by country: unemployment, social benefits, etc.; increased risks of delinquency or social instability; lower competitiveness and social cohesion |
II – Some key figures
1. In Europe
- The EU aims for a dropout rate below 9% (target of the Europe 2020 Strategy)
- In 2023, on average 9.5% of 18–24-year-olds had left the system without a qualification
Source: Eurostat
2. In Sub-Saharan Africa
In Sub-Saharan Africa, about 98 million children and young people aged 16 to 18 are not in school.
Out-of-school rates by age group:
Primary (6–11 years): 21%
Lower secondary (12–14 years): 34%
Upper secondary (15–17 years): 58%
Source: UNESCO
- Primary completion rate: up from 52% in 2000 to 67% recently
- Completion / graduation rate for the second cycle: 45–50% for lower secondary and about 30–33% for upper secondary (high school).
Source: UNESCO and Mo Ibrahim Foundation
III – Some possible solutions
To date, many actions and efforts are being made in this fight against school dropout by the various states, some being a little more advanced than others.
We can mention the following possible solutions:
- Changing the narrative around education and schooling so that young people see them as something fulfilling meant to serve them, and no longer as a constraint
- Improving programme / curriculum content by inserting, from nursery school, more extracurricular activities that will help detect each child's talents very quickly
- Setting up a monitoring sheet from nursery school for each pupil, registered with the Ministry of Education, listing the pupil's personal strengths and assets. This would make guidance easier and allow quality corrective measures adapted to the moment in case of dropout
- Reviewing the methodology of rankings and ranks. Examples: Finland, Singapore, India.
- Popularising the practice of mentoring, which provides a reference person or role model with whom one can discuss the challenges encountered
- Extending the practice of apprenticeship and cooperation between schools and companies to as many countries as possible.
Conclusion
Despite a manifest and evident will by the various actors to do well and even better, one question remains: that of the very often insufficient budgets allocated to education, notably in Developing Countries.
What should be done, then, about this problem, which I would call structural?
Would the hypothesis of PPPs in education have its place?
That will be the subject of another article.
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first to react.
Leave a comment