Factors influencing dropout in selected secondary schools in Kabwe district, Zambia.
The purpose of this study was to establish the causes of learner school dropouts in selected secondary schools in Kabwe. It was noticed that despite the effort of the government of Zambia putting up drastic measures to mitigate the issue of drop out, the learner have continued dropping out. In order to address the issue, the study was guided by the following specific objectives: to explore causes of dropping out of school by learners; to determine the measures of free primary education, provision of educational materials and infrastructure development on school dropout. The study used a descriptive survey research design in which qualitative method of information collecting was used. Questionnaire was used to collect data from the teachers while focus group discussions were used on learners from the three schools. Interview guide was used to collect data from parents and the head teachers. Qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis while statistical data was analysed using Excel. The study revealed that the following findings in selected secondary school of Kabwe district as leading causes of school dropout; financial challenges, teenage pregnancies, broken homes, lack of accommodation for those who came from far places, lack of role models in families, inadequate teaching and learning materials, poor school infrastructure, peer pressure, drug abuse, sickness, responsibility to look after relatives suffering from terminal diseases such as HIV and AIDS, in adequate school and parental guidance and counselling, loss of parents and lack of exposure to early education. With the information generated on the causes of school dropout, signs skewed by learners about to dropout and the measures to mitigate the issue of dropout in urban area of Kabwe district, the guidance and counselling is schools will be able to design guidance programmes with interventions which will be able to address the needs of learners, schools, community and the nation at large.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations