Theme/Relevant Ministry:

EDUCATION
M/o Education; Education Departments

Project Brief:

Pakistan like many other developing countries is facing a high rate of out-of-school children. Although a major part of it refers to children who never attended school, but it also includes considerable proportion of children who fails to complete a certain minimum credential and leave the education. This category of out-of-school children refers to school dropouts and is the main variable of this study. Since keeping the children in school is as important as getting them to the school at first place. The student retention in school is necessary for achieving the SDG4 of universal education. The early childhood education and a conducive learning environment are two important supply-side factors which are crucial for student retention in schools and gets reflected in National Educational Policy 2017. The proposed study aims on examining the factors associated with school dropouts which may be individual (such as personal traits and functioning), social skills (such as ability to have healthy interactions), family (such as parenting and mother’s education), non-conducive environment (such as paid/unpaid labour and violence), schooling traits (such as school’s commitment in imparting quality education) and readiness (such as early childhood education).  The impact of all these factors will be examined after controlling for region and gender. The proposed methodology is survival analysis which will predict the risk of dropping out of school. The benefit of this methodology over regression analysis is that it captures the dynamic nature of event. The outcome of this research can be useful to further fine-tune the education policy at provincial level by targeting the priority areas via specific policy instruments for supply-side factors and awareness programs for demand-side factors. Thus, the proposed analysis will provide some answers for a policy-oriented approach to meet SDG4 target of universal education.

Public Policy Relevance:

By undertaking this research, the education policy at the provincial level can be further fine-tuned by targeting the priority areas via specific policy instruments for supply-side factors and awareness programs for demand-side factors. Thus, the proposed analysis will provide some answers for a policy-oriented approach to meet the SDG 4 target of universal education.