An enquiry into some Socio-Economic aspects of School Drop Out in Bardhaman District

In almost all developing countries, dropout is a big problem with high costs to the community and the biggest concern is that school dropouts destabilize communities through delinquent behaviour and early marriage. The perceived causes of dropout are complex and tend to vary in time, space and also with gender. However domestic chores and income-generating attraction seem to be the biggest causes of dropout for both boys and girls. Beside poverty, lack of awareness and infrastructural problem seems to play a pivotal role in dropping out. The children that have dropped out of school did not concur with the community in what caused them to dropout. Most children who have dropped out expressed interest to re-enter school and see the remedy for dropping out as depending on more parental/guardian support and making school more interesting. The community sees the remedy for dropout as a combined effort between government, local communities and parents.