Teachers’ Perspective on Girls’ Dropout from Schools and Actions to Support their Education in India: A Multi-centric Qualitative Study
Girls Dropout from Schools
Abstract
Introduction: Access of girls to secondary education is poor, with a 16% dropout rate in India. The perspectives of teachers might help us understand the reasons for the same. Hence, we conducted a study to find out the perceptions of teachers regarding girls’ dropping out of schools and the need for actions that can help in this regard.
Methods: We conducted a qualitative study across 11 districts in five states. The questionnaire had seven questions, out of which six were open-ended and one was close-ended, besides the questions on age, gender, and location. We performed content analysis. Purposive sampling was used to include 122 teachers in the intervention. The study was conducted between February and March 2021.
Results: There were 30 (24.6%) female and 92 (75.4%) male respondents. The survey revealed multiple factors at individual, family, school, and community levels, such as disinterested girls, poverty, negative parents’ attitude, lack of infrastructure facilities in schools, and early marriage, etc. responsible for dropouts. Mothers’ engagement was perceived as crucial in supporting girls’ education.
Conclusion: A comprehensive, multi-level intervention with students, teachers, parents, and communities is required to help girls complete secondary education.
How to cite this article:
Sharma S, Chakravarty RT, Singh PSK, Mehra S. Teachers’ Perspective on Girls’ Dropout from Schools and Actions to Support their Education in India: A Multi-centric Qualitative Study. Ind J Youth Adol Health. 2023;10(2):14-22.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2349.2880.202307
References
Sinha MK [Internet]. Right to education: India and international practices; [cited 2021 Jul 19]. Available
from: https://rwi.lu.se/app/uploads/2012/04/Right-to-Education-Indian-and-International-Practices-Manoj.
Ministry of Education, Government of India [Internet]. Impact of various schemes and initiatives; [cited 2021
Jul 19]. Available from: https://dashboard.udiseplus.gov.in/#/home
Tabassum SR. A study of school dropouts in India: sensitivity at display. J Appl Linguistics Lang Res.
;6(3):1-10. [Google Scholar]
Maheshwari E, Roy C, Pandey M, Rautray SS. Prediction of factors associated with the dropout rates of primary
to high school students in India using data mining tools. In: Satapathy S, Bhateja V, Nguyen B, Nguyen
N, Le DN, editors. Frontiers in intelligent computing: theory and applications. Singapore: Springer; 2020. p.
-51. [Google Scholar]
Irfana PP. Educational expenditure in India: an analysis of government schemes and programmes.
EPRA Int J Multidisc Res [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2021 Aug 10];7(5):487-93. Available from: https://
eprajournals.com/jpanel/upload/916pm_88.EPRA%20JOURNALS-7174.pdf
Mishra P, Sharma P. Analysis of educational schemes impact on dropouts trends in India. Int J Commer
Manag Res. 2018;4(6):122-6. [Google Scholar]
Chandani P, Kakkar G. Opportunities and challenges for girl child schooling and education in India. Int J Creat Res Innov [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2021 Aug 17];5(7):1-14. Available from: https://edusanchar.com/wp-content/
uploads/2020/07/IJCRI-Parul-Chandani-Opportunitiesand-Challenges-for-Girl-Child-Schooling-and-Educationin-
India.pdf [Google Scholar]
Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India [Internet]. National Education Policy 2020;
[cited 2021 Aug 24]. Available from: https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/NEP_
Final_English_0.pdf
Bucci JA, Reitzammer AF. Teachers make the critical difference in dropout prevention. Educ Forum.
;57(1):63-70. [Google Scholar]
Mughal AW, Aldridge J. Head teachers’ perspectives on school drop-out in secondary schools in rural Punjab,
Pakistan. Educ Stud. 2017;53(4):359-76. [Google Scholar]
Cavaco C, Alves N, Guimarães P, Feliciano P, Paulos C. Teachers’ perceptions of school failure and dropout from a gender perspective: (re)production of stereotypes in school. Educ Res Policy Pract. 2021 Feb;20(1):29-44.
[Google Scholar]
Amadi MA, Role E, Makewa LN. Girl child dropout: experiential teacher and student perceptions. Int
J Humanit Soc Sci. 2013 Mar;3(5):124-31. [Google Scholar]
Gil AJ, Antelm-Lanzat AM, Cacheiro-González ML, Pérez-Navío E. School dropout factors: a teacher and school
manager perspective. Educ Stud. 2019;45(6):756-70. [Google Scholar]
Oduya SO [Internet]. Determinants of school dropout among secondary school girls in Kibra and Langata
in Nairobi county, Kenya [dissertation]. School of Education, Kenyatta University; 2020 [cited 2021 Aug 24].
Available from: https://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/123456789/21947/Determinants%20of%20
School%20Dropout.pdf?sequence=1
Gouda SM, Sekher TV. Factors leading to school dropouts in India: an analysis of National Family
Health Survey-3 data. IOSR J Res Method Educ. 2014 Dec;4(6):75-83. [Google Scholar]
Algur VS. Reasons elicited by school dropouts: a social reality. South Asian J Participat Dev [Internet]. 2017 [cited 2021 Aug 19];17(2):109. Available from: http://www.southasianjournalpd.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/
SAJPD-Vol-17-No.-2-July-December-2017.pdf
Basumatary R. School dropout across Indian states and UTs: an econometric study. Int Res J Soc Sci.
;1(4):28-35. [Google Scholar]
Ramanaik S, Collumbien M, Prakash R, Howard-Merrill L, Thalinja R, Javalkar P, Murthy S, Cislaghi B, Beattie
T, Isac S, Moses S, Heise L, Bhattacharjee P. Education, poverty and “purity” in the context of adolescent girls’
secondary school retention and dropout: a qualitative study from Karnataka, southern India. PLoS One.
;13(9):e0202470. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Dieltiens V, Meny-Gibert S. School drop-out: poverty and patterns of exclusion. South Afr Child Gauge.
:46-9.
Dercon S, Singh A. From nutrition to aspirations and self-efficacy: gender bias over time among children
in four countries. World Dev. 2013;45:31-50. [Google Scholar]
Dhar D, Jain T, Jayachandran S. Reshaping adolescents’ gender attitudes: evidence from a school-based
experiment in India [Internet]. Working Paper 25331. National Bureau of Economic Research; 2018 [cited
Jul 1]. Available from: https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w25331/w25331.pdf.
Prakash R, Beattie TS, Javalkar P, Bhattacharjee P, Ramanaik S, Thalinja R, Murthy S, Davey C, Gafos M,
Blanchard J, Watts C, Collumbien M, Moses S, Heise L, Isac S. The Samata intervention to increase secondaryschool completion and reduce child marriage among adolescent girls: results from a cluster-randomised control trial in India. J Glob Health. 2019;9(1):010430. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Jain P, Agarwal R, Billaiya R, Devi J. Women education in rural India. Int J Soc Sci Humanit. 2016;1(12):27-9.
[Google Scholar]
Raj A, Salazar M, Jackson EC, Wyss N, McClendon KA, Khanna A, Belayneh Y, McDougal L. Students and brides:
a qualitative analysis of the relationship between girls’ education and early marriage in Ethiopia and India.
BMC Public Health. 2019;19(1):19. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Cook J [Internet]. Educational disparities among girls in India; 2020 [cited 2021 Aug 31]. Available from: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f088a46ebe405013044f1a4/t/5fe3ba1db8f27402052432ad/1608759839509/Educational+Desparities+in+India.pdf
Tajammal F [Internet]. Gender inequalities in education: a case study of the girls’ stipend programme in Punjab, Pakistan [dissertation]. Manchester Metropolitan University; 2018 [cited 2021 Jul 23]. Available from:
https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/620937/1/Final%20Thesis%20Fariha%20Tajammal.pdf [Google Scholar]
Agapitova N, Moreno CN. Educate girls: improving the quality and outcomes of girls’ learning [Internet]. World Bank Group; 2017 [cited 2021 Aug 31]. Available from: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/
handle/10986/27662/115130-WP-P152203-PUBLIC-17-5-2017-12-22-57-EducateGirlsCaseStudyApr.
pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y [Google Scholar]
Mehra D, Sarkar A, Sreenath P, Behera J, Mehra S. Effectiveness of a community based intervention to
delay early marriage, early pregnancy and improve school retention among adolescents in India. BMC
Public Health. 2018;18(1):732. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Bage MG, Sethy PK. Education for girls. Mahila Pratish. 2019 Jan;4(3):165. [Google Scholar]
Copyright (c) 2023 Author's
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.