Causes of Dropouts in Government Secondary Schools of Punjab (Pakistan)

Oct 15, 2026

Research examining the causes of student dropouts in Government Secondary Schools of Punjab (Pakistan) used a descriptive design to analyze problems faced by educational institutions and to propose recommendations to improve student success. The study investigated dropout trends at secondary level in Punjab using SPSS to analyze survey data from 32 boys secondary school teachers and 160 parents and 160 dropout students in District Kasur. Major causes included class repetition, mismanagement, inadequate basic facilities, cleanliness and electricity gaps, teacher-parent communication barriers, harsh teacher behavior, and excessive homework.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time53 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Rationale of the Study

Statement of the Problem

Causes of Dropouts in Government Secondary Schools of Punjab (Pakistan) SaifUr Rehman* and Muhammad Asif Malik** Abstract Through this research work, the researcher studied the causes of dropouts in Government Secondary Schools of Punjab (Pakistan) . Specifically, the researcher employed a descriptive design to examine and discuss the problems facing the educational institutions and to make recommendations that can be employed to increase the opportunity for student’s success within the Province of Punjab. The objectives of this study were to investigate the trend of dropouts at Secondary Schools in Punjab. Several attempts were made by the Government of the Punjab to reverse this trend. The reason of dropouts was studied through the opinion of 32 boys Secondary School Teachers of Public sector along with 160 Parents and 160 Dropout Students from District Kasur, Punjab (Pakistan). Data collected were analyzed by using the SPSS. The class repetition, mismanagement, lack of basic facilities like drinking water, toilets, electricity, desks etc, cleanliness, communication gap between teachers and parents, harsh behavior of teachers and too much homework from school came out as major causes of dropout. The secondary schoolteachers fixed the responsibility of dropping out on parents and the children. The authorities should take vital steps to minimize the dropout rate by improving schools and by starting Parents awareness campaign about the importance of students’ education. Keywords: Secondary School Dropouts, Causes of Dropouts and the Participants. * M.Phil Scholar, Pakistan School of Economics Lahore, Email: [saif2973@live.com](saif2973@live.com) ** Professor, Pakistan School of Economics, Lahore Rationale of the Study School dropout simply means early departure from school. Students, who leave their schools without completion their secondary school certificate, are known as school dropouts. School education department throughout the Pakistan is facing the issue of dropouts. The study of dropouts has not received due attention generally in Pakistan and particularly in the Punjab province. A few partial attempts were made in this regard (Bhatti, 1987; Farooq, 2010; Khan et al, 1986) . Many resources from the limited income of the country were spent on this sector without significant increase in the literate population and no effort was made to address the issue of dropout in the educational institutions. It is difficult for school education sector of Pakistan to provide adequate schools and teachers for increasing school age cohort in the presence of continued fast population expansion rate and under investment (Sathar et al, 1994) . Therefore, choice left for the Punjab Government is to use the existing infrastructure of school efficiently. UNESCO (2010) in his survey about education in Pakistan stated that , Education system of Pakistan is divided into five stages: Primary stage includes (grades 1 – 5), Middle stage (grades 6 – 8), Secondary stage (grades 9 – 10), directed to secondary school certificate; Intermediate stage (grade eleven and twelve), leads to a Higher Secondary School Certificate; and higher education leads to graduate and post graduate degrees. Primary school age in the Province of Punjab is 5 and secondary school age is 12. There are 5 grades in primary as well as in secondary schools . The Secondary level, which is deciding level for the career of students, where they can choose either science or arts groups consists of grades 9 and 10. The terminal examinations at the end of each of the two Secondary grades are conducted externally and these examinations are important for the students to choose their future options (PSESP, 2013) . Gull et al. (2013) further pointed out that transport facility was a big hurdle in the way of continuing student’s education. Almost all the students were of the opinion that deficiency of guidance, weak memory, and difficulty of course; failure in class 9th

FAQs

What does the study define as school dropout at the secondary level?

School dropout means early departure from school without completing the secondary school certificate. Students who leave before finishing are treated as dropouts.

How was the dropout problem investigated in the study?

A descriptive design was used. Data were collected through the opinions of 32 secondary school teachers and 160 parents and 160 dropout students from District Kasur, Punjab, and analyzed using SPSS.

What were the major causes of dropout identified?

Class repetition, mismanagement, lack of basic facilities (drinking water, toilets, electricity, desks), poor cleanliness, communication gaps between teachers and parents, harsh teacher behavior, and excessive homework were identified as major causes.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Guten tag