Title: School Dropouts: Different Faces in Different Countries
1School Dropouts Different Faces in Different
Countries
- Monitoring Initiative of the Network of Education
Policy Centers - OSI Education Conference
- Budapest, July 2005
2PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES
- Eastern Europe (Estonia,Latvia, Slovakia)
- South East Europe (Albania)
- Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan)
- Mongolia
3RESEARCH GOALS
- To identify the depth of the problem
- To raise awareness about the issue of school
dropouts - To assess the actual influence of different
factors - To assess the content and implementation of
existing regulations / legislation - To develop recommendations based on the findings
- To provide background for advocacy process on DO
issue
4METHODOLOGY
- Cabinet research
- Review of the literature
- Analysis of regulations and legislation
- Field research
- Questionnaires
- Individual interviews
- Focus-groups
5Sampling
6Dropouts Common pitfalls
- Definitions they differ among and within
countries - Statistics no reliable, comparable and
consistent data - Misreporting blame culture or school funding
depends on the enrollment
7Dropouts common reasons
- Poverty
- Lack of motivation
- Family factors
- School climate
- Poor academic achievements
8Problems of Non-Attendance and Dropping-out of
Secondary Schools in Kazakhstan
- Education Policy Analysis Center,
- Sange Research Agency
9Country context
- Drop-out is a hidden problem - officially 0.2
(Vseobuch) - For years of independence new groups of children
at risk emerging - street children,
- children from disadvantages families
- oralmans (Kazakh repatriate from China, Iran,
Mongolia, Uzbekistan, etc), - social orphans.
10Kazakhstan key factors
- Lack of motivation
- Poverty
- Migration
- Home environment
- Conflicts with teachers or school administrators
11Kazakhstan key recommendations
- Legislation
- Developing clear definitions of drop-outs,
non-attendees, non-enrolled, etc. - Sharing responsibilities between different actors
- Raising effectiveness of Vseobuch program
12Kazakhstan key recommendations
- Statistics
- Coordination between involved agencies
- Creation of common data base
- Conducting regular statistical research
- Curriculum
- Child-oriented content
- Child-oriented methods of teaching
- Teachers training
13Factors Hindering Completion of Basic Education
In Latvia
Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS
- Indra Dedze
- Maiga Kruzmetra
- Solvita Lazdina
- Ingrida Mikiko
14Compulsory Education in Latvia
The Law on Education and the Law on
Comprehensive Education provide that the basic
education or the education of 9 forms that starts
at the age of 7 is compulsory. This provision is
in force till the age of 18
15Definitions
- A dropout or a child, who has dropped out of
education process a pupil who has not completed
basic education and no longer attends school . - Children on the verge of dropping out pupils
who have not attend school for six months and
thus are unable to meet the demands set for basic
education.
16Latvia Key Findings
- Parents have no close links with the school
- Dropouts were not involved in school activities
- Some of the pupils have taken paid employment
- Dropouts were failing in a specific group of
subjects - Pupils had low motivation to study and problems
with discipline - Family characteristics - families have changed
their place of residence, the majority of kids
come from families with 1-2 children, one or even
both parents are employed lack of close family
ties between pupils and parents
17Latvia Key Recommendations
- Ministry of Education and Science
- To develop clear and systematic scheme for
reintegrating the pupils on the verge of dropping
out into education, - To carry out research when exactly motivation to
learn starts disappearing, - The Centre for Curricula Development and
Examinations (ISEC) - To review the program contents and curricula
according to the ability level of the largest
part of the pupils, - To ensure closer links of the contents with real
life.
18Latvia Key Recommendations
- Ministry of Education and Science, Education
Boards, Institutions of education - To develop a better system School-pupil-parents
to ensure regular exchange of information and
joint action program. - Teacher Training Institutions
- Instruct teachers how to work with pupils who
have various motivation. - Municipalities
- Ensure more extensive assistance of social
pedagogues and psychologist in working with the
drop-outs - Together with career centres improve career
choice assistance at schools.
19TajikistanProject Children out of school
- Education Reform Support
- Center Pulse
20Reasons for dropout
21Parent level of education
22Years when children surveyed dropped out of
school
23Recommendations on organization of school
activities
- Create favorable conditions for school and
community collaboration - Develop an action plan to bring students back to
school and to prevent them from dropping out - Design and implement a plan and a set of
activities with children and families - Conduct a profound study of childrens interests
and characteristics with a view to identify and
prevent potential student deviation from
acceptable patterns of behavior.
24Recommendations in family and community
- Engage with parents on issues of parenting,
preparing them for school and life - Use influential people of authority to explain to
parents and children the role education plays in
development of personality and society - Find an opportunity to provide financial support
for children from disadvantaged families - Carry out ongoing work with children, show
interest in their problems and needs.
25The Mongolian Drop Out Study
Mongolian Education Alliance in collaboration
with the Open Society Institute Educational
Support Program
26Summary of Findings
27Definition(s) of Drop Out
- The definition of DO varies depending on who is
defining it, although it officially refers to
children who quit after attending a period of
formal schooling. - The official terminology used by the MOESC, in
compliance with the Education Laws requirement
of mandatory enrolment in basic education (grades
1 through 9), defines dropouts as children at the
age of compulsory basic education (currently 7
through 16) who are not attending school.
28Information Base Registration and Computation of
School Drop Outs
- MOECS collects and processes statistical data
related to school drop out across Mongolia using
two standard forms. -
-
29Information Base Registration and Computation of
School Drop Outs
- One serious flaw although information is
elicited in terms of reason for school change,
i.e., Transfer within the aimag or transfer to
other aimag, city, which is an indicator, there
is no established controlling or monitoring
system to determine if children who transfer
actually re-enter the school at the aimag or
soum/bagh they migrate to. - If the transfer occurs within the aimag, then the
number of increased pupils at the aimag will be
equal to number who transferred. However, at
present these numbers are different.
30Drop Out Reasons
Policy Focus Areas
Systemic problems with the education system
- Poverty/low income or lack of means of
subsistence - Child-labor related reasons such as herding, need
to earn a living to help support the family, and
need to take care of siblings or older members of
the family - Migration
- Lack of dormitories
- Teacher discrimination
31Systemic problems with the Mongolian education
system
- Teachers salaries and loads as they relate to
poor performing students who eventually drop out - Pre-school education and drop outs
- Quality of instruction, curriculum evaluation and
opportunities for teachers to get higher
professional qualification
32Drop Out Reasons
Understudied Areas
- Physical and/or mental disabilities
- Lack of communication and
- socialization skills
- Bullying or peer discrimination
- Educational level of parents
33Gender Issue Boys Drop Out
Results from the survey indicated that more boys
never attended school or had to drop out since
they had to herd (71.4) and need to work to help
the family (61.5)
34Policy Recommendations and Indicators
35- On the Definition(s) of Drop Out
- There should be a nationwide information and
awareness campaign on who a drop out is in order
that standardized procedures could be set up
properly identifying drop out and to avoid the
current confusion on who a drop out is. - The campaign should also focus on the negative
impact of drop out on Mongolian society, but more
importantly, on the Mongolian child.
36On Registering and Recording Drop Out Rate
- There should be an exhaustive policy review on
the methods and procedures on the counting of
drop out with the end view of instituting
efficient data collection and record keeping
systems and procedures from the bagh level to the
central office of the MOECS.
37- There should be an institutionalized check and
balance and cross referencing of data sources
bearing in mind the political and economic
implications of the politics of the statistics
of drop outs pointed out by Steiner-Khamsi,
Stolpe and Amgaabazar ( 2004).
38On Drop Out Reasons
Poverty alleviation measures should be concerted
and coordinated to provide sustainable employment
opportunities and income generating initiatives
especially for the population of rural Mongolia.
39- The drop out issue should be treated as a
separate concern, not lumped together with other
poverty related issues in order that it would get
the necessary government support and attention it
deserves including corresponding budgetary
appropriation.
40- Immediate review and reforms should be carried
out to address the systemic problems plaguing the
Mongolian educational system, including but not
limited, to - the review of the mandatory pre-school education
provisions - curriculum standards
- teacher skills and professional development
41- the policy on teachers salaries making them
contingent on student performance - the prevailing practice of collecting money from
students - teacher discrimination
- lack of dormitory space
42(No Transcript)
43- Measures should be in place to protect and
assist the disabled children -
- On Legislation and Policies
- There should be a national policy enactment that
would provide for the overseeing of the drop out
incidence with appropriate penalty provisions and
sanctions against those who cause or, are
instrumental, in the dropping out of a child from
school in order to avert the drop out rate.
44- There should be oversight committees both at the
central and local levels to monitor drop out
cases in both areas. - Recommended Indicators on Drop Out
- Income level /poverty level
- Prolonged unexcused absences
- Transfer within the aimag or transfer to other
- aimag, city.
- Big family (4 or more children with 1 or 2
children who - already dropped out)
- Working after school
- High rate of truancy