Chapter 2: Understanding the Education System and the
2.4 Defining Dropout
The extant literature is characterised by the lack of an agreed-upon definition of the term ‘dropout’. Generally, dropout is a notion assigned to those students who enrol but do not complete the compulsory level of schooling before their legal school age expires. According to Morrow (1986), dropouts are categorised according to the cause of their dropping out of school. For example: ‘pushouts’ are undesirable students; the ‘disaffiliated’ are those who disassociate from the school; ‘educational mortalities’ are those who fail exams; ‘capable dropouts’ are those whose family demands and socialisations disagree with school; and lastly, ‘stop-outs’ drop out but return to school within the same academic period. Another terms for dropping out is ‘early school leaving’ (Dekkers & Claassen, 2001; Smyth & Hattam, 2002), ‘disengagement’ (Rumberger, 1987) and ‘exclusion’ (T. Lee & Breen, 2007; UNICEF & UIS, 2011).
The term ‘dropout’ has also various connotations. UNESCO (2005) names it ‘early dropout’ and recognises primary education as a standard. However, this is a debatable term because early dropout is a contextual phenomenon and is not limited to primary education. The length and concept of basic schooling varies between countries; for example, Fentiman, Hall
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and Bundy (1999) describe a dropout in Ghana as any child who left school before completing nine years of basic education. Therefore, it depends upon the contextual definitions of basic and compulsory schooling in a country.
It is also important to determine the point that an absent student becomes a dropout. Researchers have stipulated certain conditions before establishing that a student has dropped out. For instance, Ananga (2011) relates it to a percentage of attendance in the immediate past term, stating that if a child’s attendance is less than 40 percent and they are no longer attending school or are absent for a whole term without telling the school, they should be considered a dropout. On the other hand, Akyeampong, Djangmah, Oduro, Seidu and Hunt (2007) define a dropout as a child who enrolled in a school but is not currently attending; however, they do note that there is a possibility the pupil may return to school at a later stage. Although this definition does not limit the period of absence, it is based on the assumption of resuming schooling in the near future. Secondly, the absence period may not enable the school to re-enrol the dropped out pupil. On the other hand, Dedze, Magia, Solvita and Ingrıda (2007) limit the absence period to six months and define dropouts in Latvia as those who have not completed basic education and are absent from school for six months. They argue that a child who remains absent from school for six months is unable to meet the requirements of basic education.
Ananga (2011) expands on the concept of dropout, including students who are physically present in the class but do not take any interest in their studies, and thus learn nothing. He dubs such students ‘mentally dropped out’ (Ananga, 2011, p. 43). Again, it is hard to recognise mentally dropped out children because it is an immaterial term. Schargel and Smink (2014) distinguish three types of dropouts: those who are leaving or have left school are known as dropouts; those who are in school but detach themselves from learning are named as tune-outs; and those who are suspended or expelled are recognised as force-outs. They further argue that the first category is easily visible, but the tune-outs are less identifiable. Force-outs are often trouble-makers both inside and outside school. What Ananga (2011) calls a mental dropout is essentially a child who has disengaged from classroom learning.
The US federal government sets a comprehensive definition of school dropout, as: …a student who leaves school for any reason, except death, before completing school with a regular diploma and does not transfer to another school. A student is considered a dropout regardless of when dropping out occurs (i.e., during or between regular school
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terms). A student who leaves during the year but returns during the reporting period (including summer program) is not a dropout. (Ireland, 2006, pp. 7–8)
This definition appears to be more precise because it establishes as dropouts only those students who do not transfer to another institution or re-enrol during the reporting period. Nevertheless, the reporting period depends upon the contextual rules and regulations of an education system; a reporting period acceptable in the US may not necessarily be the same in another country. Secondly, it is hard to track transfer students, particularly if a dropout moves to another city, district, or country, or enrols in an institution which has no legal status or formal recognition but offers the same level of education privately. Hamilton (1986) defines dropouts as those who leave school but are capable of graduating. According to his definition of dropout:
Students who choose to leave school before graduating although they are intellectually capable of doing the work required for graduation. Excluded from this definition are those with such severe learning disabilities that they are unable to perform high school level work and those who are expelled or otherwise pushed out of school. (Hamilton, 1986, p. 412)
Hamilton limits the definition of dropouts to those who are able to complete high schooling but choose to leave. He excludes those students from the definition of dropout who are incapable of learning and those who are undesirable students and are expelled from school. This definition has two major problems. First, how can students with serious learning difficulties reach the high school level? If they were born with such disabilities, how have they progressed through primary and elementary schooling? Second, the pushed-out students might have the ability to graduate but they could have been expelled for the wrong reasons, such as being involved in a prejudiced inquiry, discrimination, or misjudgement by the disciplinary committee. This definition relieves schools of their responsibilities to help students with learning disabilities and offer support and counselling to students who have specific needs.
Ultimately, there is no universal or unanimous definition of a school dropout (Natriello, 1987); it is a highly contextual concept. Keeping these complexities in mind, Bjerk (2012) argues that categorising a student as being a dropout can be difficult, as many students ‘leave and return to school’ multiple times. An alternative term to ‘out of school’ is ‘school exclusion’. UNICEF and UIS (2011) introduced five dimensions of this exclusion, as shown below in Figure 2.1.
32 Figure 2.1 Five Dimensions of Exclusion (5DE) Model
In School Out of School
Source: UNICEF & UNESCO UIS, 2011, p. 11
The extant literature on out of school children primarily focuses on primary school enrolment and completion rates; some attention has also been paid to elementary or lower secondary school students. However, investigation on upper secondary school students aged 15-17 who attended but dropped out is a largely under studied area in the developing countries. As age 16 is the final year of formal schooling in most countries, the hope that such children will attend for the first time, or re-attend after being absent, generally declines. Thus, examining the issue of dropped out children from upper secondary school will significantly contribute to the existing knowledge, with particular reference to developing countries like Pakistan.
This study further expands the Five Dimensions of Exclusion (5DE) Model by including upper secondary school students. This inclusion may be named Dimensions 6 and 7, as depicted in Figure 2.2 below.
Dimension1 Not in Pre- primary
Dimension 4
At risk of dropping out of primary schoolDimension 2
Attended but dropped out Will never enter Will enter lateDimension 3
Attended but dropped out Will neverenter Will enter late
Pre-Primary
age children Primary age children Lower secondary age children
Primary school students Lower secondary school students
Dimension 5
At risk of dropping out of lower secondary
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Figure 2.2 An additional two dimensions added by the author to the above Five Dimensions of Exclusion (5DE) Model
Out of school In School
Upper secondary school students aged 15-17
Source: by the author
Among out of school children, the focus of this study is on Dimension 6 students aged 14-16 who attended but dropped out from secondary classes 9 and 10 before completing a formal secondary school certificate in the educational structure of Pakistan. As stated earlier, education stages vary between countries. In some educational contexts, the students of classes 9 and 10 are included in the lower secondary stage; however, in the Pakistan education system, pupils of classes 9 and 10 study in high schools.
In addition to the aforementioned notions of dropout, T. Lee and Breen (2007) identified explicit and implicit school exclusions when they interviewed twelve high school dropouts regarding their school experience in Western Australia. They highlight that explicit exclusion is when participants were asked to leave or were ‘kicked out’ of their education; implicit exclusion is when ‘the participants were isolated and ostracized’ (T. Lee & Breen, 2007, p. 336). Avilés, Guerrero, Howarth and Thoma (1999) showed similar findings when they conducted focus group interviews with Chicano/Latino high school dropouts in Minnesota, USA. They reported that low teacher expectations, hostile attitudes of school counsellors, and alienation and discrimination in school settings often led to students dropping out. The participants called themselves ‘facilitated out’ rather than dropouts. Thus, examining the reasons for dropping out is much more important than simply determining them. An individualised policy response to the different forms of dropping out could better understand and solve the problem. In the next section, a definition of out of school children, is contextualised in the given education system of Pakistan.
Dimension 6 Attended but dropped out Will never enter Will enter late Dimension 7 At risk of dropping out from upper secondary school
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