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School Dropout in Rural Uganda: Stakeholder Perceptions on Contributing Factors and Solutions

Received: 18 July 2019    Accepted: 12 August 2019    Published: 23 August 2019
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Abstract

This theory-based qualitative study reports perceptions on the contributing factors of school dropouts, and recommendations for action and areas of capacity building to reduce the high rate of school dropouts in Uganda. The study which interviewed 101 adolescents, family and community members from rural Budondo sub-county (Jinja district), was based on constructs of the social cognitive theory and analyzed by thematic analysis using Atlas-ti (version7.5.4). Contributing factors include: poor academic performance, failure to cope with school, lack of social skills to cope with life’s challenges, early employment, early pregnancy, lack of parental care and role models, child-headed families, media influence, and drug abuse, poor payment of teachers, poverty among parents, child labor, long distances to school, family gardening, and lack of school/personal effects. Recommendations are: training students in social skills, involvement of national and local leaders in motivating learners, sensitization of parents and community, accessible sexual and reproductive health services, use of school counselors, involvement of the resident of Uganda in discouraging school dropouts, enforcement of laws, compulsory handcraft skills training for high school students in lower classes, increased school budgets and teachers’ salaries, income generation skills, job creation for parents, provision of school meals, co-curricular activities, accessible schools, and provision of free sanitary towels. Areas for capacity building are: use of school counselors and trained learner-leaders to motivate learners, training community leaders to handle challenges of learner, reform of school curriculum for vocational training, use of school gardens for skilling and school food, and training learners/teachers in making sanitary towels. Parental/community support to students, introduction of co-curricular and vocational skills in schools may help reduce school dropouts.

Published in Education Journal (Volume 8, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.edu.20190805.13
Page(s) 185-195
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

School Dropout, Factors, Handcraft Skills, Social Skills, Social Cognitive Theory

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Josephine Nabugoomu. (2019). School Dropout in Rural Uganda: Stakeholder Perceptions on Contributing Factors and Solutions. Education Journal, 8(5), 185-195. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20190805.13

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    Josephine Nabugoomu. School Dropout in Rural Uganda: Stakeholder Perceptions on Contributing Factors and Solutions. Educ. J. 2019, 8(5), 185-195. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20190805.13

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    AMA Style

    Josephine Nabugoomu. School Dropout in Rural Uganda: Stakeholder Perceptions on Contributing Factors and Solutions. Educ J. 2019;8(5):185-195. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20190805.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.edu.20190805.13,
      author = {Josephine Nabugoomu},
      title = {School Dropout in Rural Uganda: Stakeholder Perceptions on Contributing Factors and Solutions},
      journal = {Education Journal},
      volume = {8},
      number = {5},
      pages = {185-195},
      doi = {10.11648/j.edu.20190805.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20190805.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.edu.20190805.13},
      abstract = {This theory-based qualitative study reports perceptions on the contributing factors of school dropouts, and recommendations for action and areas of capacity building to reduce the high rate of school dropouts in Uganda. The study which interviewed 101 adolescents, family and community members from rural Budondo sub-county (Jinja district), was based on constructs of the social cognitive theory and analyzed by thematic analysis using Atlas-ti (version7.5.4). Contributing factors include: poor academic performance, failure to cope with school, lack of social skills to cope with life’s challenges, early employment, early pregnancy, lack of parental care and role models, child-headed families, media influence, and drug abuse, poor payment of teachers, poverty among parents, child labor, long distances to school, family gardening, and lack of school/personal effects. Recommendations are: training students in social skills, involvement of national and local leaders in motivating learners, sensitization of parents and community, accessible sexual and reproductive health services, use of school counselors, involvement of the resident of Uganda in discouraging school dropouts, enforcement of laws, compulsory handcraft skills training for high school students in lower classes, increased school budgets and teachers’ salaries, income generation skills, job creation for parents, provision of school meals, co-curricular activities, accessible schools, and provision of free sanitary towels. Areas for capacity building are: use of school counselors and trained learner-leaders to motivate learners, training community leaders to handle challenges of learner, reform of school curriculum for vocational training, use of school gardens for skilling and school food, and training learners/teachers in making sanitary towels. Parental/community support to students, introduction of co-curricular and vocational skills in schools may help reduce school dropouts.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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    AB  - This theory-based qualitative study reports perceptions on the contributing factors of school dropouts, and recommendations for action and areas of capacity building to reduce the high rate of school dropouts in Uganda. The study which interviewed 101 adolescents, family and community members from rural Budondo sub-county (Jinja district), was based on constructs of the social cognitive theory and analyzed by thematic analysis using Atlas-ti (version7.5.4). Contributing factors include: poor academic performance, failure to cope with school, lack of social skills to cope with life’s challenges, early employment, early pregnancy, lack of parental care and role models, child-headed families, media influence, and drug abuse, poor payment of teachers, poverty among parents, child labor, long distances to school, family gardening, and lack of school/personal effects. Recommendations are: training students in social skills, involvement of national and local leaders in motivating learners, sensitization of parents and community, accessible sexual and reproductive health services, use of school counselors, involvement of the resident of Uganda in discouraging school dropouts, enforcement of laws, compulsory handcraft skills training for high school students in lower classes, increased school budgets and teachers’ salaries, income generation skills, job creation for parents, provision of school meals, co-curricular activities, accessible schools, and provision of free sanitary towels. Areas for capacity building are: use of school counselors and trained learner-leaders to motivate learners, training community leaders to handle challenges of learner, reform of school curriculum for vocational training, use of school gardens for skilling and school food, and training learners/teachers in making sanitary towels. Parental/community support to students, introduction of co-curricular and vocational skills in schools may help reduce school dropouts.
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Author Information
  • School of Public Health and Health Systems, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

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