Delving deep into dropout rates -Md Tareq Hasan

An old but ever-important saying is that education is the backbone of a nation. So if a nation has to survive with a straight spine, there is no alternative to education. It is through education that a person becomes disciplined.

The population of advanced and modern countries is 100% literate. Have you ever thought about why it has become possible for them? Kids are enrolling in schools in Bangladesh, but not all can pursue their education at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels.

Even though there are many educational institutions in remote areas, many cannot sustain themselves in educational institutes. If a schoolboy or schoolgirl has to engage in income generation to support his or her parents and dislikes reading materials, then dropout is a must. Therefore, students start dropping out of the primary schools in the country. But ensuring uninterrupted schooling is the responsibility of all concerned.

As a result of the various measures taken by the government, almost 100 percent of school-aged children enroll in educational institutes, but 70 percent of the students qualify for secondary education. Another 37 percent drop out before completing secondary education. The dropout rate is somewhat lower in quality institutions, but the rate is alarming in more than 90 percent of institutions. In those educational institutions, there are 100 students registered in Class IX, but not more than 70 students appear at the examination. Some of the experts also say that students who have not filled out the form in SSC among those registered in ninth grade are also at risk of dropping out.

A few years ago, six international organizations working with children, including Save the Children, published a report on child rights in the capital. It said that 41 percent of female students and 33 percent of male students are dropping out at the secondary level. This continuous dropout of students is a major obstacle in the way of ensuring quality education for all. At the end of 2021, the same organization mentioned in a report that, due to the pandemic, 9.7 million kids in the world may never return to school. In fact, the kids who drop out of school are the most disenfranchised.

Ignorance, child marriage, poverty, river erosion, and family isolation are among the multiple reasons for dropout. The poverty rate has risen to 35 percent, affecting the lives of students. Families with financial challenges tend to marry off girls early. For the same reason, many families are forced to have their kids do manual labor for the income of their family. Many parents think that instead of sending their kids to school, they should let them earn something by working. Once these kids have left school, many of them are uncertain about their subsequent return to school.

Mainly, schoolchildren from urban slums, rural poor, low-income people, and the Char and Haor regions are dropping out of school. In addition to this, the children of breadwinners who have lost their jobs or shut down their businesses due to the pandemic end up being school-leavers. Education experts feel that the cost of education is very high, even at the secondary level. Apart from notebooks and pens, there are private tuition, coaching, and other expenses at this level. Moreover, many are struggling to cope with the overall increase in the cost of living. So they are trying to adjust the extra cost by sending the family to the village home, sending the boys to do menial work, and marrying off the girls. As a result, the number of students dropping out is increasing.

Although the school enrollment rate of kids in the city is high, the number of out-of-school kids aged 6 to 10 is very high within the Dhaka City Corporation, which indicates the presence of child labor in the capital. The people of our coastal region have to constantly fight with nature to survive. Their financial condition is also not satisfactory. Due to these reasons, the dropout rate of students in those areas is also high. Many students in the country drop out due to various social reasons. In addition to financial hardship, many girls lose interest in formal education after marriage or are discouraged in many cases.

Even the most destitute person in society wants his kids to be educated in formal education. In fact, many students are not meeting their financial goals. Therefore, the poor and needy families should be identified, and their financial support and action should be ensured. If the financial condition of these marginalized people is not improved, it will be difficult to make the kids of the family go to school instead of going to work. Due to the security risk of girls living in slums and low-income areas, parents feel that no matter the age of the girl child, they may be able to give her away in marriage. Due to this, the trend of early marriage is increasing, and the number of girls dropping out of school is also increasing. Along with parents, school teachers, educational institution management committee members, and dignitaries, they should come forward to overcome such situations.

Students, teachers, academics, and the community also have many kinds of ‘questions’ about ‘creative’ methods in examinations. Many students could not understand this method; moreover, a kind of ‘creative’ fear works in some of the students’ minds. Therefore, whether ‘creative’ fear is exacerbating student dropout or not, it needs to be investigated. Students’ weakness in math and English is contributing to the dropout rate. To solve this problem, talented people should be interested in the teaching profession, and the social status and respect of teachers should be increased. Regular training should be provided to improve their skills.

They will stop wanting to go to school if they cannot understand the lessons taught in the classroom and the teachers do not like the government-recommended teaching strategy. In such a situation, when a child says that he will not go to school, it is natural that a poverty-stricken parent will push him to work instead of studying so that they can augment the family income. So they have to keep an eye on whether they are understanding the lessons in the classrooms properly or not.

Apart from providing students with stipends, free textbooks, and educational materials, a ‘mid-day meal’ system must be introduced in dropout-prone areas and schools. The failure to retain kids in school despite various measures, including the provision of free books, needs to be looked into. Schoolchildren cannot handle too much pressure from lessons, which makes their education boring. So it seems they, bored stiff, imagine if there was no school. In developed countries, the students of the lower classes do their daily studies in the classrooms; they do not have to carry the burden of books on their back with difficulty. We have to take the initiative to introduce such a system in our country.

Teacher-student relationships in Bangladesh are not very normal. Studies have shown that dropout rates are higher in areas or educational institutions that lack positive teacher-student relationships. This problem is more common in rural areas and suburbs. Therefore, in addition to strengthening the relationship between students, teachers, and parents in educational institutions, there should be an atmosphere of affection, love, kindness, and compassion. Regular organization of sports competitions, cultural events, picnics, and other activities involving all parties can reduce strain in the relationship.

‘Education’ should be presented and served as an attractive subject to improve the quality of life of working and marginalized people. Economically disadvantaged students should be encouraged to pursue technical and vocational education. Under the patronage of the government, this education should be broadened. These institutions should be spread across the country in such a way that people from all areas can get an equal opportunity to make a living easily by eating at home.

In our education system, leaving at any stage from Class I to Class X is called a dropout. In this period of roughly ten years of school life, the ‘basic education’ of a person’s life is completed. And this education determines the course of his life. So if someone skips education at this time, then he drops out of basic education. So anyhow, premature school-leaving must be reined in, and we need to determine the place of ‘attention’ and ‘priority’ in our education system.
One by one, higher educational institutions are being established in the country, and the number of MA and BA degree holders is increasing year by year. But we may not understand that the increase in the number of those who complete a solid ‘basic education’ is more necessary for the development of the country, nation, and society than the increase in the number of MA/BA degree holders.