The Causes of

School
Dropouts to
the Students
 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

What are the problems encountered by the students to dropout from school?

What are the reasons behind dropout students?

How school dropout be prevented?

 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The results of the study will be of great benefit to the following:

STUDENTS. The results will provide the students with some knowledge on dropping
out from school and how it can be avoided. It will give the students a realization that
cutting is not useful to both the student and the people around him. At the end of this
study students would finally know why dropping out from school have been a major
problem to the society.

TEACHERS. The given data would guide the teachers on what to do with the
students that dropout the school. The teachers would be able to understand on why
some students dropouts and later on, help them.

PARENTS. Like the teachers, the parents too will understand why their children
dropout from school through the given data. The given data would help them
formulate some preventive measures to help their sons as well as their daughters
from dropping out. The findings would also help them learn the actions of their
children.

THE FUTURE RESEARCHERS. The research findings of this study could somehow
expound by other researchers or tackling other concerns of students from the public
schools. This encourages further to determine the effectiveness of the services of
the government and non-government institutions extended to school dropouts,
repeaters, balik-arals and the students with failed grades.

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The research was conducted in Bacnotan National High School of Junior High
School Student in the School Year 2017-2018. There are more than 20 students for
our respondent to know the Causes of School Dropouts to the Students.

Gathering of data is through interview, observations, and survey questionnaires; the

data will be taken from the elicited answers of the respondents in the administered
survey questionnaire, which will be used to distinguish the respondents’
demographic profile and identify the problems encountered by the dropouts student
from Bacnotan National High School.
 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY

The important of this study is to get accurate information about the causes of school
dropouts that affect through the student performances. These reviews of research
not only help researcher and educators identify the contemporary research topics
and research methodology but also suggest directions for future research as well as
some guidelines for the nature of that research. In addition, to study and rises
information of causes of school dropouts to the students. From the information, the
school can used and will take the positive reaction to further improving. In the same
in this study could be helpful to new researchers to make a guide for study them. As
well, it shows that we on our research its enable to be used as a reference and
source of information useful to all parties. Besides that, it was helping to all parties,
particularly the improvements to the management and administration of the school.

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

This paper examines the Causes of School Dropouts to the Students. It is organized
around the following questions: (i) What are the problems encountered by the
students to dropout from school? (ii) What are the reasons behind dropout students?
(iii) How school dropout be prevented?

Following the section that presents your questions and background, you will offer a
set of responses/answers/hypotheses. They should follow the order of the questions.
The most important thing you can do in this section is to present as clearly as
possible your best thinking on the subject matter guided by course material and
research. As you proceed through the research process, your thinking about the
issues/questions will become more shaded, complex, and refined. The statement of
your theses will reflect this as you move forward in the research process.
 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Entering high school can be exciting for some, terrifying for others or maybe
just another level that should be overcome. Here in the Philippines, almost all high
school students were in their teenage years, which can be considered as probably
one of the most difficult but undeniably exciting stage of a person’s life. There are
numerous issues bombarding teens today, one of which is the lack of direction, as to
what path one must undertake to be who he wants to be, or simply, the stage of
exploration and identity identification. There are also different factors that could bring
about these issues, like peer influence and the mass media. These are only some
factors that could have an effect on their whole being. Facing each day with these
issues and influences may contribute to one’s performance especially in school.

This study confers on several problems faced by most high schools at

present time. These are the students who are at high risk to school completion
failure, these are dropping out from school, year retention or commonly known as the
repeaters, the balik-arals and the students with failed grades.

Dropout, the term immediately brings to mind an image, or a myriad of images.

It conjures up long list of adjectives—many of them negative (Center for Child and
Family Policy, 2008). Students dropping out of school is one dilemma of the
education sectors; dropping out means leaving the school for practical reasons. It is
an impediment that is bugging the Department of Education not only in the
Philippines but also many countries around the globe because of its increasing rate
more and more each year. Increased rates of dropouts means that there is a big

possibility that these students may not complete the needed years in high school
which may result to future unemployment for example that can give a big impact on
the country’s progress especially in developing countries like the Philippines.

According to Roberta Furger (2011) for some students, dropping out is the
culmination of years of academic hurdles, missteps, and wrong turns. For others, the
decision to drop out is a response to conflicting life pressures -- the need to help
support their family financially or the demands of caring for siblings or their own
child. Dropping out is sometimes about students being bored and seeing no
connection between academic life and "real" life. It's about young people feeling
disconnected from their peers and from teachers and other adults at school. And it's
about schools and communities having too few resources to meet the complex
emotional and academic needs of their most vulnerable youth. Although the reasons
for dropping out vary, the results and consequences are surprisingly similar.

Another glitch on high schools is what we call “the repeaters,” or the year
retainers; they are the students who enrolled in the same year level as in the
previous year level. It is disturbing that the percentage of the repeaters in the country
is rapidly rising and thus, having a need for attention and involvement of concerned
people to prevent its further increase. In this study, the high school student repeaters
determine the problems they have encountered that brought them to repeat their
previous year levels.

Students who came back to school after a long vacationing, and decided to
continue their studies are identified as the “balik-aral” students. Another concern of
this study is the students with failed grades; they are the ones who were unable to
meet the recommended grades to pass a particular subject. Most students probably
experienced having failed grades, some have not lost their hopes and continued
despite of the circumstance and there were some who gave up that resulted to
dropping out from school or even lost their appetite and stopped going to school.

Identification of the problems encountered by the dropouts, repeaters, balik-

arals and students with failed grades will help the researchers formulate an
intervention program that could alleviate the augmenting rates of this school
concerns.

Moreover, this study was conducted in public high schools, and as we all
know students in public schools were offered free education by the government
because of socio-economic status perhaps or the incapacity to avail the education
from private schools, and there were a number of studies that supports the
relationship of the socio-economic status of a child to his capability to stay in school
and his performance.

High school completion is, of course, the most significant requirement for
entering college. Failure to complete a basic cycle of high school not only limits
future opportunities but also represents a significant loss for the country.

Although there were a number of individuals who succeeded in life despite of

failing in school, and ironically becoming an inspirational story for some, but still it is
not a fine reason for every student to discontinue studying and cease on striving
hard to complete their schooling. Let us face the fact that in every nation, school
completion is a vital thing in order to land a job. And let us be realistic that not all can
achieve the accomplishments those few propitious individuals had done.

With these premises, the researchers, chose this study to identify and to have
an in-depth understanding on the common problems encountered by the high school
students, particularly, those students who dropped out of school, those who retained
their previous year level, the balik-arals and the students with failed grades. Knowing
the problems these students encounter will not only help them but also, it may
prevent the possible increase of future students who may come across these issues.
 DEFINITION OF TERMS

School. It is an organization that provides instruction: such as an institution for the

teaching of children (Merriam-Webster, 2012).

Dropout. This refers to the one who leaves school or an educational program
prematurely (Merriam-Webster, 2012).

In this study, this refers to any student who leaves school for any reason before
graduation or completion of a program of studies without transferring to another
secondary school.

Public High School. This is also known as government schools, generally referring
to primary or secondary schools mandated for or offered to all children by the
government, whether national, regional, or local, provided by an institution of civil
government, and paid for, in whole or in part, by public funding from taxation
(Wikipedia, 2007).

In the country, public high schools are schools under the supervision of the
Department of Education, which are subsidized by the government which offers
children of free education from primary to secondary level.

Family Factor. These are the problems faced by the students with regards their
family’s situation and financial issues.

Intervention Program. This refers to a conceptualized program made to reduce the

rate or prevent the students from staying out of school.

Personal Factor. As used in this study, this refers to the impediments of students
affecting them such as, self-esteem, health problems, early pregnancy and other
personal issues.

Problems. This refers to a question raised for an inquiry, consideration or solution.

(Merriam-Webster, 2012)

In the study, this refers to the troubles that a high school student encountered
during their schooling life
 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

According to Erik Erikson’s Psycho-Social Development of Personality,

particularly the conflict stage of “industry versus inferiority,” that lasts from 6 to 11
years. In our culture, school life begins here. This stage is the beginning of life
outside the family; a stage of systematic instruction, a movement from play to a
sense of work. This stage describes that a child needs to do well and develop a
sense of work completion and satisfaction in a job well done. Otherwise, the child
develops a sense of inferiority and inequality. Another is the adolescence stage
termed, “identity versus identity confusion” that occurs between 12 to 20 years, it
emphasizes the difficult transition between childhood and adulthood that can be
strongly affected by social limitations and possibilities. The adolescent is likely to
suffer from confused roles. Doubts about one’s sexual attractiveness and sexual
identity are common to this stage. The inability to develop a sense of identification
with an individual or cultural role model who gives direction to one’s life can lead to a
period of floundering and insecurity. Another reaction is over identification with
youth-culture heroes or clique leaders leading to a loss of identity.

Because of these crucial stages where most high school students in

the country are where at, many problems arises that can affect their functioning in
their daily lives.

An additional theory is from Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs,

which points out the basic human needs. He believed that exposure to
environmental conditions that permit or prohibit gratification of the basic needs
prompts movement up or down the hierarchy of needs. Maslow suggests that,
without the fulfilment of these needs, an individual may feel discouraged, weak and
inferior. In line with this study, if a student feels discouraged and inferior, his
motivation may be affected and thus, there will certainly have inhibitions especially
with his performance in school.

Moreover, Carl Rogers’ Self-theory that points out that the ultimate goal
of each one is to be a fully functioning person. It is a process in which the individual
constantly pursues his or her actualizing tendency, and at the same time behaves in
a manner that is true to the self. Rogers also described the characteristics of a fully
functioning person these are: openness to experiences, existential living, self-trust,
sense of freedom and creativity.

With these theories, the researchers will conduct a study on the

problems encountered by dropouts students at Bacnotan National High School as a
basis for a proposed guidance intervention program.