CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF DROPOUT AMONG UNDERGRADUATES IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF LAGOS STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Education is an instrument for developing the nation. It is also an instrument for developing hidden talents in an individual. It is the only means of eliminating illiteracy in any society. The importance of education to the development of individual and the nation as a whole cannot be over emphasized. It is a great investment any country can make for accelerating development of its technology, economic and human resources. Isife and Ogakwe (2012) explained that education is a powerful tool or weapon that can be used to eradicate ignorance, poverty, and diseases and produce individual that can function eectively in the society. Onwuka (2012) pointed out that education is the instrument that is used to free people from incapacitation and exclusion. When an individual is freed from incapacitation and exclusion or illiteracy, there is usually a change in that person’s behaviour. This change influences the person’s attitude and his whole life (Apebende, 2013). School dropout in its simplest meaning is the untimely withdrawal from school. These students who withdraw from school prematurely end up not obtaining any certificate of graduation. The issue of school dropout is a global problem confronting the education industry round the world. Researchers like; Mohsin, Aslam and Bashir (2004); De Cos (2005); Bridgeland, Dilulio, and Morison (2006), and Oghuvbu (2008) have since buttressed this fact. The issue of school dropout in Nigeria has been with us for a very long time. Fafunwa (1983) noted that dropout is one of the most serious problems that have continued to bedevil our educational system since independence in 1960 from the colonial administration. Even before our independence, the problem of dropout has already established its grip on our educational system. This can be buttressed with the remark made by Nuied foundations in 1953 that in the West coast of Africa, a considerable proportion of student’s dropout of school each year.

This study has come at a time when there is high rate of insecurity in the country as a result of criminal activities. Survey by both the print and electronic media tends to indicate that over 85% of the criminal activities perpetuated in Nigeria are done by youths who dropped out of school. This development has become a cause of serious concern to all well meaning Nigerians. This tends to suggest that oureducational system is in trouble and thus needs a very serious attention in refocusing it and restructuring it for the attainment of national goals. De Cos (2005) commenting on the importance of graduation from higher institution noted that; with the economy changing from a dependence on manufacturing towards more reliance on technology, services, and a “knowledge economy”, the need for education up to tertiary level has grown. In Nigeria of today, Bachelor or Diploma degree from tertiary institution is considered as the minimum required for most jobs and status positions. This development has serious implications for the economic well being of dropouts and the society at large. In this era of global economic meltdown and global economic competitiveness, Nigeria as a nation that has vision must make concerted eorts to raise the educational attainment of all its youths who are the leaders of tomorrow. Globally, reasons why students dropout from school can be categorized into four clusters. These include; School related, Job related, family related, and community related. Study by Frendenberg and Ruglls (2007) identified twenty four factors under family cluster; three factors under community cluster and twelve factors under school cluster. The factors identified under family cluster include;low family socioeconomic status, racial or ethnic groups, male, special education status, low family support for education, low parental education, residential mobility, low social conformity, low acceptance of adult authority, high level of social isolation, disruptive behaviour conduct, being held back in school, poor academic achievement, academic problems in early grades, not liking school, feelings of “not fitting in” and of not belonging, perceptions of unfair or harsh disciplines, feeling unsafe in school, not engaged in school, being suspended or expelled, conflicts between work and school, having to work and school, having to work or support family, substance use and pregnancy. In community cluster, the following factors were indentified: living in a low income neighborhood, having peers with low educational aspirations and having friends or siblings who are dropouts. Under school related cluster, these factors were identified; low socioeconomic status of school population, high level of racial or ethnic segregation of students, high proportion of students of colour in school, high proportion of students enrolled in special education, location in central city, large school district, school safety and disciplinary policies, high-stakes testing, high student – to- teacher ratio, academic tracking, discrepancy between the racial or ethnic composition of students and faculty, and lack of programmes and support for transition into next level. While job related cluster entails: those students who could not work and school at the same time, those who had to do a job to survive and those who found job.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study was carried out to correct the imbalance in research efforts on our knowledge of school dropout. Most of the researches on dropout have been centered on causes, effects and remedies. Most if not all the researches in Nigeria on the same subject matter followed the same pattern with case studies on primary and secondary school. No studies to my knowledge in Nigeria studied dropout problems using the tertiary institutions. This study is therefore very timely and significant.