FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR PUPILS’ DROPOUT AND ACHIEVEMENT IN PRIMARY SCHOOL

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION

Our focus in this chapter is to critically examine relevant literatures that would assist in explaining the research problem and furthermore recognize the efforts of scholars who had previously contributed immensely to similar research. The chapter intends to deepen the understanding of the study and close the perceived gaps.

Precisely, the chapter will be considered in two sub-headings:

• Conceptual Framework
• Theoretical Framework

2.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

School Dropout

Chadzuka (2008:20) views children who disengage from school as those learners who leave school before the final year of the educational cycle in which they are enrolled, which could be primary, ordinary or advanced level or even college or university levels. Dropout most commonly refers to a learner leaving school before the official exit-grade level, Tsomo (2012:12). According to Tsomo (2012:13), a child who disengages from school can be defined as a learner who exits the education system before completing the programme for which he or she was registered. This definition could embrace students at all levels of the education system whether primary, secondary or tertiary. However, a classification difficulty arises when learners leave one institution and move to another location. The argument by Tsomo (2012:13) is that, if a learner soon continues his or her education else where, he or she cannot be reasonably classified as a child who disengages from school.

If a learner exits the formal education system at a particular level without completing the programme designed for that level, he or she can be classified as a dropout.

The characteristics of learners who dropout of school

According to Kavetuna (2007:3) argues dropping out is preceded by indicators of withdrawal or unsuccessful school experiences that often begin in primary school. Overt indicators of disengagement are generally accompanied by feelings of alienation, a poor sense of belonging and a general dislike of school. Those children at risk can be identified by the following characteristics:

• They are usually two years older than their age group.
• They have poor attendance at school.
• They read below their mental age.
• They resist the educator’s and principal’s authority.
• They have little or no interest in school work.
• They do not follow what other learners do.
• They benefit from automatic promotion (The Ministry of Education and Training, 2008:12).

Factors Responsible for School Dropout

Disability and special educational needs

Sebatane (2009) consider the disability of learners as one of the contributing factors to dropout. They stated that the lack of initial access for learners with special educational needs (SEN) means most of them are able to drop out of school. The role of the educator is important because appropriate teaching methods could enhance the learning potential of many learners with SEN. Many educators do not gain the appropriate training nor do they in some cases know how to identify forms of learning difficulties.

According to the Education Statistics Bulletin (2010:21), pupils with SEN or disabilities amounted to 20490 (5.3%) out of 388681 learners who were enrolled in 2010. In 2011 learners with some form of disability amounted to 20636 which are 5.4% of 385437 learners who were enrolled in 2011.

The Education Statistics Bulletin (2011:21) stated that gender comparison disclosed that boys with special educational needs topped girls in all the grades. The number of males with special educational needs or disabilities was also dominant in most types of special needs such as learning difficulty, physical disability and visual impairment while the number of females took the lead in hearing impairments, as shown in the table below which shows registered primary schools‟ enrolment of learners with special educational needs/disabilities 2011.

That means these learners are at risk of dropping out of school due to exclusion and lack of appropriate support from the teachers and their peers. The school environment also contributes to push disabled learners from schools in such a way that the surroundings do not accommodate them. For example, the school toilets or playgrounds are not made easy for the learners on wheelchairs to be able to use them (Education Statistics Bulletin 2010:21).

Furthermore, UNESCO (2011:346) stated that some schools are so far away that the twice daily routine is uncertain, difficult and tiring for the disabled learners to complete their primary schooling in Nigeria. Working conditions too are hardly ideal for teaching and learning; classes are overcrowded and the equipment and staff are inadequate.

Orphanhood

The Ministry of Education (2007:69), states that in the final report of consultancy on educational policies, programmes and legislation in Nigeria relating to disadvantaged children, stated that the disastrous AIDS pandemic has increased the problems for special education in Nigeria in two ways. Firstly, it has increased the number of learners who may be regarded as having special educational needs in that orphans are vulnerable to emotional and behavioural disorders. Secondly, the rise in the number of orphans requiring social and financial support has preoccupied authorities and may be absorbing resources from which the disabled might otherwise benefit of learners who are double orphans, the most statistical returns for 2006 show 30,513 at the primary level. The estimated number of learners who have lost either one or both parents are much larger. It was reported in the MOET joint review of September 2007 as 141792 at the primary level.

The Education Statistics Bulletin (2010:22) denotes that the number of paternal orphans was dominant representing 56% whereas the percentage of complete and maternal orphans followed with 24 and 20% respectively.

This created a great challenge to Nigeria primary education because these learners dropout from schools due to different reasons including hunger, lack of parental support, health problems and financial support especially related to school needs. The Education Statistics Bulletin (2010:22) stated that the number of orphans has been fluctuating over the years though there has been a miner decline in enrolment of orphans from 2008-2011. That means most of them dropout from schools while others do not enrol at school at all after the death of their parents.

According to the Ministry of Education (2008:677) maintains that on the evaluation of free primary education in Nigeria, the growing number of paternal orphans makes it difficult for Nigeria education to reach its maximum potential goal of education for all.

The remaining parents, especially mothers, who are central to learners‟ education, are forced to look for work and thus more and more learners end up in the care of grandparents and relatives. Those care givers are not always able to monitor schooling and may not prioritise the learners‟ education as would natural parents. Eventually these learners who experience frequent interruptions dropout of school in order to head households and sometimes seek employment to maintain families. Lepheane, Thamae, Mokone and Maphokoane (2011:19), explained that with the multitudes of problems experienced by orphaned children, it is quite clear that their rights to survival, life and development are being violated. The situation of these learners does not confirm to the society‟s standard of what is acceptable under prevailing cultural norms for this particular age group.

Practices such as early marriages violate their rights and make them more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection and also tend to interrupt their access to education. School dropouts are increasing as more and more parents die as a result of HIV/AIDS. When this happens, learners are left to fend for themselves and older ones take on the responsibility of caring for the young ones. Learners in these situations become overwhelmed with the new roles and duties. Finally, they quit school because they cannot deal with the role conflict of acting as a learner and a house keeper or manager at the same time (Lepheane, Thamae, Mokone and Maphohoane 2011:19).

Child maltreatment in the family

It is true that family is the safe place of sustenance and care. It is equally true that most child maltreatment occurs within families. Parents are the perpetrators in approximately 80% of the submitted cases, with mothers the most likely perpetrators of physical abuse and neglect cases and fathers the most likely of sexual abuse cases (UNICEF, 2007:69). The physically abused learners exhibit lower intellectual and cognitive functioning relative to comparitive groups of learners on general intellectual measures. They also experience problems in specific measures of verbal facilities, memory, dissociation, verbal language, communication ability, problem solving skills and perceptual motor skills. Academic performance is another area of substantiated difficulty in physically abused learners. Compared with non-abused learners, victims of child physical abuse display poor school achievement and adjustment. They also receive more special education services; score lower on reading and mathematics tests, exhibit more learning disabilities and are more likely to repeat a grade. As a result, a learner may feel obliged to drop out of school (Pridmore 2007).

Poverty and unemployment

The other reasons for learners not attending school despite the removal of barriers to schooling are as comprehensive as they are complex. There is no doubt that there are increasing socio-economic pressures that include growing poverty and unemployment. There were reports of herd boys still being denied access to education despite the removal of fees and girls being hired as domestic workers due to poverty in the households. Mothers who are central to learners‟ education are forced to look for work and thus more and more learners end up in the care of grandparents and relatives who are not always able to monitor schooling and may not prioritise the learners‟ education as would natural parents. Eventually, learners who experience interruptions dropout of school in order to head households and sometimes seek employment to maintain families (Ministry of Education, 2008:67).

Due to the high rate of unemployment and poverty in Nigeria, most learners quit school to maintain their families. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) (2011:43), estimated that 21.3% of learners between the ages of 10 and 14 in Nigeria are working, boys as herdboys and girls as domestic workers.

Health problems

Pridmore (2007:38) explained the negative effects of health and nutritional status of younger learners and their implications for school enrolment, dropout and school achievement on learners. He further explained that school aged learners who suffer from protein deficiency, malnutrition, and hunger or who lack of certain micronutrients in their diet, do not have the same potential for learning as healthy and well nourished learners. These learners attend school less frequently, are more likely to repeat grades, dropout early and fail to learn adequately due to poor levels of attention. They also have low motivation and poor cognitive function.

Lack of support

According to UNESCO (2011:340), another factor perpetuating high rates of school dropouts include lack of parental support. Rejection by one of the parents or both is yet another serious form of neglect as the learner is made to feel excluded and rejected. Possible reasons may be that the mother was not ready and willing to assume responsibility of parenthood.

A foster child or adopted child not bound by ties of blood may sometimes also be rejected by care givers or relatives. Such a disturbance in relations definitely poses a threat in the form of anxiety to the learner and stunts his psychological development.

UNESCO (2011:346) further stated that it is parental responsibility to care for their learners and guide them in their school work. If not, learners are likely to lose the love for school. Coming straight to the issue of HIV/AIDS orphans, they are not prone to stigmatisation and discrimination but also lack the resources needed to meet their educational costs. Without care, support and guide of parents, learners who venture into education end up dropping out of school. Many parents choose to take their learners, especially boys, out of school in order to herd animals and to attend the initiation school. Girls are then taken out of school in order to cook for the initiates (makoloane).

Introducing free primary education

The Ministry of Education (2008:69-70), on the evaluation of free primary education (FPE), stated FPE as the cause of the high rate of dropouts in Nigeria primary schools. Introducing FPE without full planning for its requirements, quality has been compromised. There is lack of adequately trained educators. Most educators are unqualified to teach in the school system. This situation affects learners‟ performance especially at the grade 7 level. Educators do not have a housing facility and this means they have to walk long distances to come to school. Indeed, FPE has attracted many learners, some of whom cannot afford school uniform and some of whom are rather too old for their level. Many of these learners do not have the resilience to withstand the discomfort of looking odd and the mocking looks of their peers. Therefore, descriptions of learners who regularly miss school and eventually drop out include those who feel uncomfortable amongst peers even in the face of the measures to include them. The educational materials like stationary including the learner‟s books arrived late with the result that quality was severely compromised. The delays in the delivery of teaching materials, some of which were described as poor quality, as well as declining conditions as a result of overcrowding, were the main reason (Ministry of Education 2008:70).

FPE has lowered the value of education so that learners come and go and change schools without any regard for what they would lose by so doing. Learners are not regular in attendance as they are free to go to any school of their choice. Educators are clearly frustrated by this situation and feel helpless at dealing with the increasing occurrence of transfers.

Poor quality education

According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics report (2007:87-89), argues that the poor quality of primary education in Nigeria is a matter of concern and has multiple causes. The unfavourable learning environment is strongly related to severe overcrowding, especially in the lower primary standards. This situation is, in turn, caused by severe shortages of educators, classrooms and high repetition rates.

Poor condition and infrastructure

The Ministry of Education (2008:67-70) signifies that on the evaluation of free primary education in Nigeria, there are also those situations in which infrastructure and conditions are quite poor and all that learners have. There are several schools in very remote areas where the conditions are extremely poor. Learners would have to skip school in order to go and fetch food supplies. In such schools there are also regular interruptions because of the poor infrastructure. On some days, there is no teaching and learning as learners would be applying dung to the floor. On most Fridays schooling is suspended in order to apply dung to the floors and walls. Many learners skip that day to avoid the chores. In other schools, there are virtually no chalk boards and no chairs; the classroom conditions are so very poor that the roll has declined. In other schools there is simply no option within kilometres and many learners have to cross rivers to get to school. These poor conditions result in high levels of disruption and declining quality and eventually learners drop out of school (Ministry of Education 2008:70).

Strategies That Could Be Used To Address This Problem

Develop policy guidelines on inclusive education

The government should develop policy guidelines on inclusive education, focusing on how best to integrate learners with special needs, indigenous language minorities and religious minorities. The guidelines could serve as the point of reference for all interventions in the school system (

Development of policy on repetition and progression

Considering the opportunity costs that are borne by the government resulting from the high repetition rates, government should develop, disseminate and enforce a policy on repetition and progression in all public basic schools. The issues that should be addressed should include the designing of approaches on improving the transition rate from lower to upper basic education.

Free and compulsory quality basic education on equitable basis

Free and compulsory education should be enforced and expanded throughout the nation. This will help to carter for children from the motherless homes and those whose parents are not financially strong to train in school.

Construct additional classrooms/schools

In order for the Government to meet the quantitative challenges of school dropout, it should provide resources for the construction of more basic schools and the expansion of classrooms in already existing schools.

Furthermore, the government should renovate existing classrooms in existing schools with priority being given to remote areas and the densely populated districts. In addition, special attention should be given to the construction of schools for children with special needs. A policy framework should be developed for a unified and continuous basic education system that provides opportunities for learners with special needs and otherwise disadvantaged learners.

Community campaigns on education for all (EFA)

The government should continue to popularise primary education through advocacy for free and compulsory primary education through the medium of public campaigns and publications. Through the community and campaigns, the government hopes to enlist the vulnerable community and civil society involvement in advocacy for basic education by encouraging parents to permit their children to take advantage of educational opportunities opened for them.

Make education attractive

Most of the respondents concur that education has to be enticing to the learners. The latter have to want to attend school without being forced to do so. They suggest that learners need to be sensitised to the importance of education and that an environment has to be created to enable them to share their views. Of importance is the creation of a learning environment in which educators recognise the intrinsic worth of all learners in the classroom through a child-centred and inclusive curriculum. From a learner development perspective, children need to feel safe, secure and cared for. It is for this reason that the parents propose that school fencing be provided and security be stepped up. As part of caring, they indicate that the learners should be supervised, both in class and on the school grounds. Many stakeholders are in agreement that the creation of child-friendly schools should be the ultimate goal in enticing the children to come to school and to remain there until they complete their primary education. The educators have to understand that they are in school for the learners and they are expected to act in the best interests of the learners.

Provision of learning materials

The government should provide additional resources to meet the expanding demand for relevant teaching and learning materials so as to secure quality basic education. The involvement of other stakeholders in education services provision should be sought.

Increasing teaching positions

The government should explore the best ways to create additional teaching positions to cater for increased enrolments and to fill the places caused by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The training of more educators and the facilitation of training opportunities to untrained/unqualified educators should form the main approach to meeting the rising demand for educators.

Improve the quality of educators

It is worth returning to the issue of the quality of educators. A recurring concern of the stakeholders in particular is the educators‟ inadequacy in working with learners with special needs. The educators themselves acknowledge that they have not been adequately prepared to work with learners who have different types of disability, the one group that is particularly marginalised in the school system.

Address the needs of orphans and vulnerable learners

Poverty is uppermost among the recurring and significant barriers to access to education as identified by all the stakeholders. It is the contention of the stakeholders that the majority of the children who are not in school are those who are marginalized by different difficult circumstances, most of whom are orphans and vulnerable learners. There is no question that the HIV/AIDS pandemic and its attendant socio-economic consequences have increased the vulnerability of very poor families and children (UNICEF, 2007). The education sector faces the serious challenge of bringing these learners into school and retaining them in the system. This state of affairs, if not mediated, has the potential of undermining the efforts of achieving the Millennium Development Goals of Universal Primary Education.

Create employment opportunities

Recognised by many stakeholders is the paucity of employment opportunities for school leavers.

As indicated above, the stakeholders prize relevant education for its ability to empower the people to transform their lives, that is, the ability of education to take them out of the trap of poverty. Indeed, compulsory education as a right can be justified on the grounds that it paves the way for the future welfare of the individual child and of society at large. It is recommended that free education should extend to the secondary level to enable the learners to participate more fully in the social, economic and political transformation of their lives as well as the life of the country (Ministry of Education 2008). The government is also urged to create a facilitative environment for job provisioning or job creation to ensure that the learners participate in the job market after completion of their studies (Ministry of Education 2008:96).

Implications for Dropouts

Chadzuka (2008:20) further stated that the implications for dropouts are that they cause educational wastage in a number of ways, namely:

• The money which is invested by the state is under-utilised.
• Materials and resources are not put into use, which is un-economic.
• The dropout cannot attain a full educational capacity.
• Consequently, the dropout cannot maximally contribute to the country‟s economic building.
• As a result, the dropout becomes a liability to the country.
• The dropouts reduce opportunities for other children who could have better utilised those resources.

As a result of substantial rates of dropout and non-completion of primary school, many children are leaving school without acquiring the most basic skills. Their brief schooling experience consists frequently of limited learning opportunities and as a result many children are registered in schools but fail to attend, participate and learn.They are enrolled for several years but fail to progress and dropout from school Predimore (2007). Failure to complete a basic cycle of primary school not only limits future opportunities for children but also represents a significant drain on the limited resources that the country has for the provision of primary education. Children dropping out of school without completing primary school education remain key constraints for achieving success Predimore, (2007). The consequences of dropping out of school are costly. Children who dropout of school experience higher levels of unemployment and receive lower earnings than their peers. Children who dropout of school are more likely to become dependent on welfare, engage in illegal activities, experience health and affective problems. Dropping out of school creates a negative momentum for youth in a society during difficult economic periods. Such momentum may foster even higher dropout rates in the future. Dropping out of school is widely recognised as a negative life event which is often followed by further problems (Predimore, 2007).

2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The following theories are going to be discussed in detail because they are related to dropouts and have many implications for the learner’s education:

The psychological theories

In an attempt to analysehe relationship between motivation and behaviour, Lepheana, Thamae, Mokone and Maphokwane (2011:18) outlined the five basic needs of human beings in the form of a pyramid divided into the psychological and physiological needs. The psychological needs include the need for affection, belonging and achievement Lekhanya (2008). Among the physiological needs are food, water, sleep, rest and activity. This theory has implications for education because if food is not available at home, learners cannot adjust to the school environment. The results are that the hungry learners cannot cope with schoolwork and in most cases they end up dropping out of school.

Every child needs to be loved, to belong to the group and to achieve goals. Some educators use authoritative leadership styles in the class, where learners have little to say. As a result, learners feel they are not loved and lack interest in attending school.

Learning theory

Lekhesa (2007:21) assumes that a learner learns what he is capable of learning that is the concept of readiness. Piaget also assumes that intellectual development goes through four main stages: the sensory motor stage occurs when the child explores the environment using his senses, the pre-operational stage is when the child acquires language but has no operational thinking, the concrete operational stage is when the child thinks about abstract ideas accompanied by concrete material, and the formal operational stage is when the child is now able to think in an abstract manner and solve abstract problems.

Lekhesa (2007:21), the implication that this theory has is that learners learn what they are cognitively capable of learning. The four stages of cognitive development may overlap. Some children are sent to school on the basis of age not readiness. Such children are under aged in terms of cognitive development. They are not ready for formal education. When they come to school, they cannot cope with school work and end up dropping out of school.

Sociological theory on deviance and dropouts

Lekhesa (2007:22), deviance means departure from expected norms and values of society. It also means breaking the rules set by the society. Deviance means deviation from normal acceptable behaviour in a particular situation or society, Lekhesa (2007:22). The general causes of deviance leading to school dropoutsare compulsory attendance, frustration, peer group pressure, personal problems and lack of interest in the educator.

• Compulsory attendance

Some learners attend school through no desire of their own. They may have been forcibly sent to school by their parents or guardians against their will. Subsequently, the results of compulsory attendance include, amongst others, passive attitudes (meaning these children are at school physically but without actively responding, active resentment (these children hate schooling), and hostility towards the school environment (meaning that they dislike the school environment) (Lekhesa 2007:23).

• Frustration

The curriculum structure demands an attraction of interest of the learners. An irrelevant curriculum may spark frustration in some learners or the curriculum can be linked to school standards and long term goals beyond the comprehension and ability of the learners. Some may not see the subjects or course as having any significance for their personal development, or they may see it as forcing them into a pattern which has no relevance to their preferred lifestyle. Frustration is fertile ground for deviance and aggressive attitudes in school (Ministry of Education and Training, 2007:29).

• Peer group pressure

Peer group pressure can spark a negative attitude towards schoolwork, which can lead to dropping out (Lekhanya 2008).

• Personal problems

Personal problems such ashealthand social and economic stressors can cause resentment and difficulty coping with the demands of the school (Ministry of Education and Training, 2007:29).

• Lack of confidence in the educator

Learner‟s confidence has to be earned. Confidence will vanish when an educator fails to meet the expectations of the class. Lack of interest in a subject and poor lesson preparations can easily be noticed by learners. This weakens confidence in the educator and will spark deviant behaviour which in turn may lead to expulsion or dropout, Lekhesa (2007:24).

This study is based on the sociological theory of deviance and dropouts. According to Lepheana, Thamae, Mokone & Maphakwane (2011:24), sociology is the study of society as a whole, including certain elements of society such as the family unit, religion and the evolution of social structures. Sociologists collect various data such as demographic statistics or personal observations and determine general explanations of social phenomena. These explanations are called sociological theories and are highly important both in social studies and in everyday life.

The main focus of the study was to find and eliminate the factors contributing to primary school dropouts in Nsukka L.G.A of Enugu State. Therefore, sociological theory on deviance and dropouts was used to increase the study’s trustworthiness and eliminate research bias through its symmetrical principles. Sociology is the study of society, its structure, dynamics and impact on human behaviour (Lepheana, Thamae, Mokone & Maphokwane 2011:24).

This study is based on this theory because it is about problems or controversies that directly or indirectly affect people of a society in relation to their moral values.