Dropout Factor Affecting Internal Efficiency of Secondary Schools

Abstract

The research aimed to evaluate the factors affecting the internal efficiency of secondary schools in Bahawalpur, Pakistan. To accomplish this goal, the research was conducted as descriptive. The researcher used a mixed-method approach to achieve the objectives of the study. According to the nature of the study, a questionnaire was designed to collect the data. The quantitative data were collected from principals using available sampling and teachers using simple random sampling, through questionnaires were presented, analyzed, and interpreted using standard deviation frequency count, mean, percentage, and T-test. Thirty-five secondary schools were selected randomly, which comprised (50%) of the total secondary schools. Thirty-five (35) Headteachers and seventy-three (73) SST teachers from Bahawalpur participated in the study. The analysis indicates that dropout emerged from factor analysis as a common factor. Based on the research finding, some of the significant factors causing student dropout rate were; students over age group; principals and teachers having low education and academics background; most parents are illiterate, and with a low standard of living, the long Distance to the school from home, student’s family standard of living, The lack of school facilities and involvement in family work were mentioned as the major challenging factors for dropout. The researcher suggests some recommendations to strengthen parent literacy and awareness-raising activities in light of the study's findings; the key ones were increased school facilities and services and minimizing the student's participation in family work. Finally, district education officers, assistant education officers, and school administrators can work hard and have a strict follow-up to allow schools to illustrate a continuing trend in minimizing dropouts of students.