The Effect of School Dropout on Educational Development in Rivers State , Nigeria

Abstract

The likelihood that certain scourge could alter or shatter educational processes and    subsequently    impede     educational    advancement    necessitated     an investigation on school dropout and educational development in Orashi region, Rivers State. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. The population of the study comprised of all the 1150 teachers in the  68 junior secondary schools in the study area. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 300 junior secondary  school teachers  and a 30 item structured instrument, validated by two experts was used for the study with a title “School Dropout”. The obtained reliability coefficient of 0.762 justified its use to obtain data that were analyzed using mean and standard deviation.  The study revealed that: absenteeism,   truancy,   non-participation   in   class/school   work,   inferiority complex or shyness, etc. were signs that culminate to high school dropout rate. This could be reduced through teacher-induced interventions like: providing emotional  support for  students  who  are facing  some  challenges,  adopting waiving disciplinary actions incurred by students, etc. The study recommended among others that: teachers should be responsive and quick to identify and remediate  issues  like  absenteeism,   non-participation  in  class/school  work, truancy, inferiority complex, etc. that could disillusion students and culminate to   their   dropping   out  of  school.  Alongside,   Government   should  adopt inventions like emotionally supporting challenged students,  etc.  in order to stimulate their interest and facilitate the reentry into the school.