FACTORS PREDICTING SCHOOL DROP OUT IN THE FORMER COMMUNE OF RUGAZI: ROLE OF FAMILY CONSTRAINTS, PEER DYNAMICS AND CHILDREN WORK
Keywords:
school dropout, peer dynamics, family constraints, children work, rural settingsAbstract
Background: The former commune of Rugazi has a high school dropout rate, contradicting national goals of universal enrollment and school completion. Objective: This study analyzes the factors associated with school dropout in this rural community. Methodology: The study adopts a quantitative approach based on binary logistic regression to estimate the effect of several predictive variables on the probability of dropping out of school. Results: Three factors are significantly associated with school dropout. First, advanced maternal age is a major risk factor; children whose mothers are 60 years of age or older are 3 times more likely to drop out of school than those whose mothers are under 40. Second, the social environment plays a decisive role: children who associate with peers who have dropped out and those who are not enrolled in school are, respectively, 2.3 and 2.8 times more likely to drop out than those who associate with peers who are enrolled in school. Third, the social utility of child labor is a major factor; children involved in economic activities to support their families are at a significantly higher risk of dropping out of school than those who do not have a specific work assignment (70% lower risk). Conclusion: These results underline that school dropout results from a combination of family, economic, and social factors. They reveal the need for integrated policies that combine support for disadvantaged households, the promotion of a social environment conducive to schooling, and the reduction of child labor in order to improve school retention in Rugazi as well as in all rural communes of Burundi.
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