Determinants of school drop-out among adolescents in rural Sri Lanka

Abstract

Introduction

Every child has a mandatory right to education in most countries Including Sri Lanka. The rates of school drop-out remain high in vulnerable populations specially in developing countries.

Methods

This community-based case-control study included 75 teenagers who had dropped out of school for at least one year within the Mahaoya Medical Officer of Health (MOH) division. All teenagers and their parents were interviewed separately at their home premises using a multi-structured questionnaire and a qualitative theme guide to explore contributory predisposing factors. Controls were selected within the same MOH region and matched for age and gender.

Results

Median age of our cohort was 16 years. There was a male preponderance amongst the dropouts (male − 48, 64 %; female teenagers (27, 36 %). Educational achievements were lower amongst parents of children with school drop-out (p < 0.05). Immediate reasons for school dropout were financial constraints (21, 28 %), retention in the same grade due to poor performance (19, 25.3 %), loss or separation of parents (11, 14.6 %) and romantic relationships resulting in living together (10, 13.3 %). Independent risk factors for school drop-out were poor school performance (p < 0.05), retention in the same grade (p < 0.001), low parental expectations on education (p < 0.001), parental ill-literacy (p < 0.05) and school dropout in siblings (p < 0.05). None of these teenagers received psychological support.

Conclusion

Aetiology of school dropout amongst teenagers is multi-factorial and grade retention negatively impacts on students’ willingness to continue schooling. We propose that all children who drop out of school have access to psychological support.