Blog Details
- 06 January,2025
How do we stop students from dropping out?
Dropping out is a common standing and persistent issue in our society and it is also in our utmost interest to eradicate or at least decrease it. Over the years both the government and the education industry have tried their hands on the issue and found some success but not a decisive win over it.
The reasons for a student dropping out could be external like financial and familial situations or internal like mental and negative influences taken to heart. To prevent students from dropping out we need to approach this in a non-generalised method and try to solve each on its own merits. We would also recommend a few methods for possible scenarios. The types of situations and their remedies are as follows:
Financial Situation
The financial situation of the family or of the student if they are supporting themselves can very often be the reason behind a child or an adult discontinuing their studies. A sudden downturn in earnings or unemployment can put a severe financial strain on the family or the individual and due to that education could be put on the backseat.
Being in an institute that is affordable at the present time and not stretching their budget is important because any financial constraint is less likely to strain the budget.
Academic Situation
There could be a problem on the academic side itself for the student, for reasons like not being able to anticipate what a certain course holds and then later being disappointed or stressed by it.
These could be alleviated by providing counselling and academic mentorships to the students and for those that fall behind, remedial classes and some leniency where possible and a positive approach towards these students can help them perform better.
Family Related Problems
Most common external problems include family or family-related situations that affect the individual. These range from caregiving duty or family obligations like a financial strain or an ill member in the family, leading them to discontinue their studies. The culture of the house too can be a negative influence if the family does not value education or they have a dismissive attitude towards it.
Such problems could be reduced possibly by providing the family with family counselling and if possible, having flexible class timings.
Institutional Support is Absent
The educational institute too could be the cause of a student withdrawal, poor support by faculty or administration to the student and keeping him or her fending for themselves or the non-cooperative attitude of the staff could put off the student and cause misunderstandings.
The problem can be solved by having a welcoming environment and friendly staff who can relate to the students. The institute could even assign mentors and intermediaries to relay student's grievances to the institute.
Transition Barriers
The students often transferring from another institute have a tough time adjusting to the new institute and also building the bonds as they had in the previous institute. If they transfer from a different system or curriculum, then the transition becomes more difficult because even academically now they have to align themselves that puts a lot of pressure on student in a short span.
These could be solved to some extent by making the process smoother in the technical part. For the personal parts, providing counselling, monitoring the student in class and providing the student with time to get a grasp of the academic course with remedial classes and some leniency could solve the problem.
Peer Influence
Peer influence or rather negative influence from peers could be attributed to a lot of things done by youths as their impressionable minds and curious nature with rebellious spirit could easily be influenced to do stuff which they sensibly won’t otherwise.
Body image issues to figuring out their identity and goals as they are figuring out many things and trying many things, is also the stage at which vices first creep in even if latent and these could distract a student away from studies and lead them to other interests. Being bullied or mocked by peers can also decrease a student’s outlook on themselves, make them feel bad and make them withdraw themselves socially in turn isolating them which hampers their studies too.
A strict surveillance of the classes, corridors and play areas could provide early hints of a problem and keeping bad influence away with psychological help, building close knit student groups and providing students with other alternative interests reduces its reach on the student.
Logistical Problems
The location of the institute and the commute to it could also influence students, if the distance is too much and the commute takes too much time and it is either infeasible or too tiring and impractical that too can make the student drop out.
A clear estimate of time and transportation options should be mentioned to the students prior to them committing to the curriculum.