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This is to C" "ifv that the
dissertation entitled
Factors Influencing Primary School Dr0pouts
In REACH-Supported Boarding Schools in South
India As seen by Teachers, Peers and Principals

presented by

Narasimiah Peter Jacob

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

 

Ph. D. mgmem Comparative and Inter-
national Education

QM

Major professor

DaltSeeptember 20, 1983

 

MSU is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution 0- 1 2771

 

 

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FACTORS INFLUENCING PRIMARY SCHOOL DROPOUTS
IN REACH SUPPORTED BOARDING SCHOOLS IN SOUTH INDIA

AS SEEN BY TEACHERS, PEERS AND PRINCIPALS

By

Narasimiah Peter Jacob

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Secondary Education and Curriculum

1983

A B S T R A C T
FACTORS INFLUENCING PRIMARY SCHOOL DROPOUTS
IN REACH-SUPPORTED BOARDING SCHOOL IN SOUTH INDIA
AS SEEN BY TEACHERS, PEERS AND PRINCIPALS
BY

Narasimiah Peter Jacob

The Purpose

 

The main purpose of this study was to determine the
causes of elementary school dropouts among REACH spon-
sored children in nine boarding schools in South India
from the perspective of teachers, principals and peers.

A second purpose was to collect demographic data about
the schools to assist in interpreting teachers', princi—

pals' and peers' responses.

Procedures

 

First, one hundred thirty-four dropouts during the
school year 1980-1981 were identified and matched with
their teachers.

Second, teachers and principals were requested to
fill out a questionnaire to determine the reasons for
dropping out. The first part called for demographic data.

The second part contained 29 items on home, school

Narasimiah Peter Jacob

and student factors judged to be influential in dropping
out. The third part consisted of eight Open-ended state—
mwnrs requesting teachers' Opinions. Peers were reques-
ted to write a paragraph on the reasons for their school

mates dropping out.

Findings

Teachers disagreed with most of the questionnaire
items as being related to drOpouts. But their disagree-
ment on three crucial home factors was weak; they linked
nearly 50 per cent of the drOpouts to them. Teachers
also linked four school variables to dropouts. Their
written comments, moreover, related most of the ques-
tionnaire items to drOpping out.

Six principals did not give any reason for drop-
ping out. Three stated that "the children did not .
return" and that they "did not know their whereabouts."

Dropouts' peers reported that poverty, students'
lack of interest and the need to earn money influenced

dropping out.

Conclusions

In nearly 50 per cent of the cases teachers rela-

ted three important variables to dropping out.

Narasimiah Peter Jacob

In over 50 per cent of the cases they related four school
variables to drOpping out. In their infbrmal responses
they provided strong evidence of the relationship of home,

school and student variables to drOpping out.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The writer wishes to acknowledge an enormous debts
of gratitude and to express sincere appreciation to
Dr. Cole S. Brembeck who served as chairperson of the
guidance committee and dissertation. This dissertation
coould not have been completed without his patient gui-
dance, probing questions, cordial and understanding dia-
logue and encouraging criticism during the many, many
hours spent together over a period of more than two years.

A similar expression of heartfelt gratitude is
extended to Dr. Ruth Hill Useem, Dr. Ted Ward and
Dr. Marvin Grandstaff for their keen interest in the
project and their help and encouragement in thinking
through and coming to grips with the problem under consi—
deration for study.

Were I to include here the names of many gracious
and concerned people who have played a significant role
in my educational achievement, the list would be over-
whelming, but I do wish to register an unstinted vote of
thanks to them.

Certain ones stand as guide posts in my educational
experience and accomplishment. The first and foremost,
of course, was my father V. Narasingh who, though poor
and little educated, had a passion constantly to instill

ii

in me the interest and motivation to obtain a college edu-
cation. To realize this he sent me to school while his
neighbors took their children to work. As he cannot par-
ticipate in or witness this final accomplishment, I owe

a debt of gratitude for his determination and sacrificial
provision that I can never repay.

I also sincerely want to express my appreciation
and gratitude to Rev. and Mrs. H. G. Platt, missionaries
in India who provided financial assistance through my
high school days.

I would be remis if I did not express my deep appre—
ciation and thankfulness to the Seventh-day Adventist
Church in Southern Asia Division for their sponsorship
assitance for higher studies in U. S. A. I am greatly
appreciative of this invaluable help.

I am equally grateful as well to Pastor and Mrs.

Joe Crews for their loving concern and unfailing financial
support in sending me to a Christian college and keeping
through the college years. I wish also to acknowledge

my indebtedness and express my thanks to Mr. and Mrs.
Tunison of Florida who initially shared the financial sup-
port with the crews.

I wish to inscribe here a deeply felt expression'
of gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Clyde West of Lansing, Michi-
gan, for their loving, cordial and Open invitation to

iii

their warm Christian friendship and fellowship whenever I

needed them during my study at M.S.U.

Finally, I am most deeply indebted to my wife
Jasmine and children Cheryl and Mark and wish to express
unreserved appreciation to them for their patient under-
standing and immeasurable sacrifice. Frequently, Mark
would deprive himself of his much needed time with his
daddy with understanding resignation: "Daddy is studying,"
or "Be is writing his dissertation." For such unselfish

sacrifice, I am ever thankful to him.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

LIST OF TABLES

Chapter

I.

II.

THE PROBLEM . . . . . .

Statement of the Problem . . . . .
Purpose of the Study . . . . . .
Significance of the Problem. . . .
Definition of Concepts . . . . . .

Assumptions . . . . . .
Research Questions . . . . . .
Limitations of the Study . . . . .
Background of REACH . . . . . .
Overview . . . . . .

PRECEDENTS IN LITERATURE . . . . . .

The Purpose of Primary Education .
Universal Literacy an nfinished

Business . . . . . .
Highest Incidence of Wastage . . .
Causes of Wastage . . . . . .

Home Variables . . . . . .

Poverty . . . . . .
Illiteracy of Parents . . . .
School Variables . . . . . .
Disfunctionality . . . . . .

Faulty admission policy . . .
Incomeplete schools . . . . .
Untrained teachers. . . . . .
Defective curricula . . . . .
Wrong placement of teachers .
Rigid examinations. . . . . .
Discriminatory and selective

Character . . . . . .
Heterogeneous classes . . . .

V

Page

ii

P‘H
WOOCDCDU'INNH H

H
U1

16

17
20
22
22
22
25
26
26
28
28
28
29
28
30

3O
31

TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued

Chapter

II. (Continued)

Student variables . . . . . . .
Academic deficiency . . . . . . .
Irregular attendance. . . . . . .
Higher age and lack of interest .

Remedies Suggested in the Literature.

Suggestions for Improving the Home
Environment . . . . . . .

Suggestions for Improving the
School Environment . . . . . . .
Part-time education . . . . . . .
Multiple entry system . . . . . .
Adults Education . . . . . . .
Teaching and curriculum . . . . .
Nonformal education . . . . . . .
Raise the schooling age . . . . .
Work—oriented education . . . . .
Caution in work—experience

education . . . . . . .
Additional suggestions. . . . . .
Summary . . . . . . .

III. RESEARCH SETTING, METHODS AND PROCEDURES

Research Setting . . . . . . .
Data Sources . . . . . .
Observation Data on the Schools . .

Background of the schools . . . .
School sites . . . . . . .
School facilities . . . . . .
Boarding and lodging facilities .
Diversity of population . . . . .
Curriculum and instruction. . . .

Work program . . . . . .
Teachers' and students' day at
schools . . . . . . .
Language characteristics. . . . .
Principals' Data . . . . . . .
Teachers . . . . . . .

Qualification of teachers . . . .
Teaching experience . . . . . . .

vi

Page

32
32
33
33
34

34

35
36
36
37
37
38
4O
41

42
44
45

47
47
48
48
49
SO
54
54
54
55

S6
56
57
59
59
6O

TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued)

Chapter Page

III. (Continued)

Class size . . . . . . . . 60
Number of students in the nine
schools . . . . . . . . 60
Number of REACH students in the
nine schools . . . . . . . . 60
Methods and Procedures. . . . . . . 66
Identification of the POpulation. 66
Demographic Data from the
Principals . . . . . . . . 66
Development of the Questionnaire. 67
Questionnaire Returns . . . . . . 70
Treatment of the Questionnaires . 70
Treatment of Peers Responses. . . 71
IV. FINDINGS . . . . . . . . 72
Basic Data on Dropouts. . . . . . . 72
Rate of dropouts . . . . . . . . 72
Entry grades . . . . . . . . 74
Exit grades . . . . . . . . 74
Summary . . . . . . . . 75
Responses of the Teachers' to the
Questionnaire . . . . . . . . 90
Main Reasons for Dropping out . . 90
Teachers' and Principals' Efforts
to Retain Students . . . . . . 95
Church Leaders' Effort to Retain
Students . . . . . . . . 98
What REACH Could Have Done to
Reduce Dropouts. . . . . . . . 101
How and Who Should Educate
Parents . . . . . . . . 103
Should Sponsorship Money be Used
to Educate Parents . . . . . . 104
Reasons for REACH Students
Staying in School . . . . . . 105
Teachers' Other Concerns and
Opinions . . . . . . . . 106
Principles Correspondence Data. . . 108
Peer Perceptions . . . . . . . . 109
Some Unique Findings. . . . . . . . 111

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued)

Chapter
IV. (Continued)

Relationship of Findings to

Precedents in Literature . .
Home Background . . . . . .
School Factors . . . . . .
Student Factors . . . . . .

V. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Findings . . . . . .
Demographic Data . . . . . .

Response to the Questionnaire.

Implications of the Findings

Recommendations . . . . . .
APPENDIX . . . . . .
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . .

viii

Page

113
113
114
115

119
119
119
120

122
128

133

159

LIST

OF TABLES

of the Schools

Boys and Girls of

Boys and Girls in
1980-1981

REACH Boy-Girl Rate Among Dropouts

Dropouts Entry Grade Frequency and

Percentages on Dropouts Home Variables

Percentages on Dropouts School Variables

Tables
3.1 Demographic Profile
3.2 Percentage of REACH
REACH Schools
3.3 Percentage of REACH
the Nine schools in
3.4 REACH Dropouts in 1980-1981
5.1
5.2
Percentages
5.3 Dropout Exit Grade Requency and
Percentages
5.4
5.5
5.6

Percentages on Dropout Student Variables

ix

Page

58

62

63
64

73

74

75
77
81

88

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM

Statement of the Problem

The failure of a substantial numbers of poor child-
ren to take advantage of the opportunity to be fed,
clothed, housed and educated in private, parochial board-
ing schools assisted by REACH (Render Effective Aid to
ggildren) International posed an enigma to REACH officials.
Since such behavior on the part of the poor children
seemed totinply'a.waste of effort and means, especially,
in view of an alarming number of children leaving school
even before they completed primary education. The matter
was of serious concern. The loss of such human resources
not to mention the considerable investment in their edu-
cational expenditures, was disheartening. REACH offi-
cials were fully aware that "a nation as well as an indi-
vidual suffers when a boy or a girl does not prepare him-
self as fully as possible to live and make a living”

(Van Dyke, 1958, p. 2). Furtherore, as Sapra observed in
his book Educational Wastage and Stagnation in India:

Educational wastage as commonly understood in ,

terms of grade repetition and school-dropout, is
a serious problem, particularly in deveIOping

countries where available resources are meagre
(Sapra, 1967, p. 9).

2
The problem of disadvantaged children withdrawing
from school prior to successfully completing the primary
level of education, at least, therefore needed investiga-
tion so that prOper measures may be taken to alleviate,

if not eradicate it.
Purpose of the Study

The primary purpose of this study was to determine
the causes of elementary school dropouts among REACH
sponsored children in nine boarding schools in South
India from the perspective of teachers, principals and
peers of drOpouts. And by obtaining demographic data on
the drOpouts and information about schools, the study
sought to find out how factors associated with home,
school and students might be related to the dropout
problem. The ultimate purpose was to arrive at some pos-

sible approaches to reducing the drOpout problem.
Significance of the Problem

The importance of the investigation cannot be over-
emphasized since there are many vital social and economic
issues at stake. These include dissipation of human
resources, waste of school expenditures, reduction of

school efficiency and dilution of effective use of funds.

3

Officials at REACH wondered what could be done to
reverse the disheartening drOpout trend. REACH was com-
mitted to a program of alleviating hunger and ignorance
by educating the poor children in deve10ping countries
like India. The agency recognized that education was
essential for release from poverty and entrance into a
life of usefulness, productivity and self-reliance.

REACH also believed that once a young person was educated,
he in turn would provide for his family a better way of
life.

To accomplish this objective, REACH set out at
its inception to find persons in the United States to
sponsor poor children in private, parochial boarding
schools. The boarding school environment, REACH believed
was suitable for providing the sorely needed structure,
discipline and direction for poor children so that they
could rise above the grinding poverty in which they were
born and to which they were otherwise destined.

But the failure and/or withdrawal of a discouraging
proportion of poor children in REACH schools was a
disturbing factor the REACH program had not reckoned with.
Therefore, to understand the problem, to remedy it and
justify the efforts and funds spent on behalf of the poor
children, it was necessary to obtain, first of all, the

reasons for the drOpout problem.

4

Second, the sponsors who provided the necessary
funds had to be placated. Having received a picture and
a brief biography of the child upon committing themselves
financially, they got quite upset, often displaying a
lack of interest in the aid program when offered a substi-
tute child within a few months or a year. Naturally, they
were puzzled why an impoverished child would turn his
back on food, clothing, shelter and the means for a better
life. They needed, therefore, to be offered reasonable
explanations so that their cofidence was retained and
their support continued.

Third, an investigation of the problem was also
necessary to provide insights into apprOpriate measures
for improving the situation.

Emphasizing the serious nature of the drOpout prob-
lem, Susila Bai, the eudcation minister of Kerala, India,
indicated that a considerable portion of the expenses in-
curred in school was wasteful on account of the imbalance
in the ratio of cost and benefit. In this connection she
made the following remarks:

It should be the concern of the society, edu-

cational planners, implementing authorities to
avail the desired benefits of education by holding
intact the children from.dropping out at least in
the primary schools, and generate schemes or pro-
grams at different levels of society and govern-
ments promoting healthier environment in school to
enable children grow physically, mentally and

learn systematically for purposeful and profi-
table career future (Susila Bai, 1979, p. 30).

5

Finally, but importantly, the building up of a scien-
tific problem-solving attitude is essential for liquidating
problems of illiteracy, dropout, stagnation and wastage in
elementary education (Myrdal, 1970, p. 117).
The recognition and awareness of both national and local
problems involving drOpouts and their undesirable conse-
quences by teachers and principals and especially by peo-
ple at the grassroots were crucially essential for both
initiating and implementing effective remedial processes.

Thus the seriousness of the drOpout problem, its
ill effects, and the national cry for programs to alle-

viate it were adequate reasons to warrant this study.
Definitions of Concepts
This tudy uses the following terms as defined below.

Socio-economic factors

This term refers to the pupil's background, inclu-
ding the parent's education, income and social strata, and
the number of brothers and sisters in the family from
which the dr0pouts come. Other terms such as home environ-
ment, family background are interchangeably used in this
study. Ultimately, these terms denote the poverty level
of the family as set by the government of India which was

Rs. 300.00 (roughly $38.00) per month.

School Factors

 

These words referred to the conditions that existed
in a school climate that either hindered or enhanced a
student's staying in or dropping out of school. Factors
such as discipline, rigorous examinations, mistreatment
on the part of teachers or peers, the nature of the curri-
culum and humaneness of the school atmosphere are some

of them.
Student Factors

These words refer to those elements that have to do
with the student's disposition and involve his academic
ability, motivation, interest, health, degree of home-

sickness, behavior and adjustment to school life.
Seventh-day Adventist Boarding Schools

This term refers to schools established and operated
by a protestant denomination called the Seventh-day Adven-
tist Church, so named because of its belief in Chruch

worship on the seventh day of the week and in the immi-

nent return of Christ.

Boarding schools are those schools which provide
loding, meals and education for children on the school
premises. The schools are parochial and private. They
are funded and Operated by the Seventh-day Adventist

Church. Since they do not receive any support from ,.'

7
public funds from the government agencies, they are fee-

levying schools.

Dr020ut

This term indicates the premature withdrawal of a
child from school before completing the last grade of the
stage of education in which he or she was studying. Thus,
at the primary stage of education it refers to every
child who withdrew prematurely from school before com-
leting sixth grade. Other terms such as wastage, school

leavers and school withdrawals are interchangeably used.

Persisters

 

This term is used to refer to that boy or girl who
continues to stay in school until he or she finishes the
primary level of schooling--sixth grade, or as designa-

ted by Indian schools, "standard."

REACH International

REACH International, as indicated earlier, is an
acronym for Render Effective Aid for Children. The term
International signifies the scope of work envisioned by
REACH in deve10ping nations. The abbreviated form,
REACH, has been used throughout this study.

To present a preview picture of REACH International

a short description of its background, purposes and

8
functions is included under a separate heading in this

chapter. A detailed description appears in appendix B.
Assumptions

1. A basic assumption in this study was that teach-
ers, peers of drOpouts and principals, who had been in
close contact with the dropouts would be able to supply
information about dropping out.

2. Socio—economic components such as poverty, illi-
teracy and indifference of the parents of the disadvan-
taged children contributed to the drOpping out problem.

3. School factors such as strict discipline, rigo-
rous examinations, overly populated classes, inhumane
treatment and maladjustment of poor children, and the
irrelevance of the current curriculum influenced the with-
drawal of the children of the poor.

4. Lack of motivation and interest and academicdefi-
ciencies in the children of the poor induced droppoing

out.
Research Questions

Grounded in the assumptions stated, the following

research questions were asked.

1. Did the economic factors of the family influence

9
disadvantaged poor children to dropout of school?
(Questionnaire items 1, 5, and 6).

2. Did the non-economic factors of the family influ-
ence disadvantaged chidren to dr0pout of school? (Ques-
tionnaire items 2, 3, 7 and 8).

3. Did school factors influence disadvantaged poor
children to drOpout of school (Questionnaire items 13,

and 16-25).

4. Did student factors influence disadvantaged poor
children to dropout of school? (Questionnaire items 10-

15).
Limitations of the Study

The following were the major limitations of this
study:

1. Because of time and cost constraints, the resear-
ch was limited to finding out the perceptions of teachers,
principals and peers of dropouts. These informants were
more readily available for interviewing or filling out
questionnaires. The drOpouts and their parents were un-
available.

2.The investigator could not be present at the~sflxrfl
to administer the questionnaire; he cannot therefore be
certain of the manner in which the responses were arrived at.

The teachers were asked to fill out the questionnaires

10
independently, but this could not be monitored to assure
independent reSponses.

3. The number of responses was small, 63 out of 134,
or 47 per cent.

4. The distance factor was a limitation, causing
delay in the return of the questionnaires, and the loss of
some in the mail. How this altered the results, if it
did, is unknown.

5. This study did not examine the extent of grade
repetition or stagnation.

6. Finally, the research was limited to the ele-
mentary school dropouts in nine REACH—aided private

boarding schools in South India.

Background of REACH
History and Nature of REACH

In 1973 the writer and his wife volunteered to conduct
worshops fOr elementary school teachers in India. During
the workshop sessions, held in different areas of the
country, the sight of hundreds of children hopelessly
wandering the streets motivated the writer and his wife
to conceive of a program that would send at least some of
the poor children to school. REACH came into existence
in the fall of that year as a result of the support of

friends interested in the concept of helping impoverished

11
children in India and possibly in other countries. It
was organized formally in October 1973.

REACH is a voluntary, charitable and tax-exempt orga-
nization. It is Operated and staffed largely by Seventh-
day Adventists lay volunteers. It is funded from dona-
tions to the organizations. None of the administrative
staff is paid by REACH. Funds received as sponsorship do-

nations are used for the care of the children.

Philosophy

 

The phiIOSOphy stems from love and compassion for
the unfortunate children condemend by the accident of
birth to a lifelong poverty. It is Christian in its

ideological orientation.

Objective

 

The objective of REACH is to provide food, shelter,
and care, along with formal education, through Seventh-day
Adventist boarding schools so that destitute children can

become productive and useful citizens.
How REACH Secures Spgnsors

Initially, sponsors were secured by talking to
friends and former missionaries to India. Later, the 10-

cal, regional and national Adventist journals were

12

solicited for advertising space. Because of the fund-
raising nature of the organization, however, the church
papers soon denied this privilege, though not denying the
fundamental value of such a lay organization. Currently,
in addition to word-of-mouth publicity, a lS-minute slide
presentation of the work of REACH in India has been pro-
duced and is circulated upon request by sponsors past and
present. The majority of the present sponsors (99%) are

Seventh-day Adventists.
Securing Children for Sponsorship

In general, pastors, principals and other school
authorities in India and in other countries where REACH
Operates, take children into their schools in the hope
that they will be sponsored. They send to the REACH office
pictures and a brief biography of these children. Only
children below the age of 14 are eligible for first time

sponsorship.
What REACH Sponsorship Provides

For the $15.00 collected monthly from sponsors for
each child, REACH expects the schools to provide three~
neals a day, school uniforms, books and school supplies,

lodging and simple medical care.

13

Overview

This first chapter has presented the statement of
the problem and its significance, the purpose of the study,
the terms used, the assumptions involved, the research
questions asked, the limitations of the study and the
background of REACH International.

In Chapter II, a review of the related literature,
dealing primarily with the elementary school dropouts in
deveIOping countries like India, is presented. It inclu-
des the primary causes of dropouts-~the family background,
the school influence and student characteristics. The
survey also notes the various tried and workable strate-
gies for solving the drOpout problem.

In Chapter III, the research setting describes the
environment, function and demography of the schools; and
the methods and procedures describe the population,
instrument used and procedures for developing and mailing
the questionnaires.

An analysis of the data collected is presented in
Chapter IV. It deals with the questionnaire returns,
analysis procedures, perceptions of principals, teachers
and peers. Tabular form presentations are made of the
findings on the following items: REACH boy-girl rate of
1drOpouts, entry and exit grade of dropouts, home varia-

bles, school variables and student variables. Along with

14
with these the perceptions of principals, teachers and
peers are described and discussed.

Finally, conclusion and recommendations is descri-
bed. The recommendations are suggested as possible reme-
dies for alleviating the problems of drOpouts. This
also includes implications of this study for REACH, the

sponsors and the school personnel.

CHAPTER II PRECEDENTS IN LITERATURE

This literature survey sought to identify factors
which could provide a basis for the items in the ques—
tionnaire. It reviewed factors influencing dropouts in
developing countries generally, but focused on primary
school dropouts in India. The reason for this dual approa-
ch is the fact that most developing countries share similar
problems. Not only do they face the serious problems of
wastage and stagnation, but they also seem to have similar
contributing factors, such as the poverty of the family,
the lack of educated parents, and inadequacy and ineffi—
ciency of the schools.

Four items which appear frequently in the litera-
ture deserve clarification. They are wastage, stagna-
nation, retention and holding power. Commonly wastage is
used for dropping out, and stagnation for grade repeti—
tion. Retention and holding power are also used inter—

changeably. Here are more precise definitions:

Wastage

Wastage is generally understood to connote the
premature withdrawal of a child from school before
completing the last grade or stage of education in
which he is studying. Thus, at the first level of
education every child who is withdrawn from school
before completing the last grade VI or VII is a
case of wastage.

15

16

Stagnation

 

Stagnation, also known as retardation or grade
repetition is defined as the retention of a pupil
in a grade for more than one year on account of
unsatisfactory progress. Thus, if a child passes
a grade in two or more years, he constitutes a
case of stagnation (NECERT, 1971, p. 23).

Retention or Holding Power

 

These terms refer to all children who enter pri-
mary school in grade I and are retained in the pro-
cess of education in school till class VI, that is,
a pupil entering first grade finishes the first
stage of schooling which is at the sixth grade
level (ACRC, p. 23).

The Purpose of Primary Education

 

The purpose of primary education in India has
always been to reduce illiteracy. This was one goal of
the liberation movement during the drive for independence.
Since independence in 1947, reducing illiteracy has been
consistently retained as the goal of education at primary
level in India. All other South Asian countries have at
several regional conferences joined in expressing the
same goal (Myrdal, 1970, p. 117).

For a long time UNESCO and most underdeveloped
countries, among them those in South Asia, have conti4
nually had as one goal of national develOpment universal
literacy through free and compulsory education for child-

ren of ages 6-14. They have, in other words, seen that

17

national development requires an increase in the number
of children who attend primary schools and become lite-
rate (Myrdal, 1971, Vol. 3, p. 1657). Within this frame
of national and develOpmental objectives, "the attain-
ment of permanent literacy and citizenship training are

the twin objectives of primary education"(Sapra, 1967,

P- 7).

Universal Literacy an Unfinished Business

 

The post independence effort in India to provide
free and compulsory education for all children up to the
age of 14 has been impressive. Enrolments have increased
and facilities have been added so that there is at pre-
sent a primary school located within 1.5 kilometers of 93
per cent of rural population (Kurian, 1981, p. 410).
During the four years of the Fifth Plan the levels of
enrolment reached were 85 per cent in the age-group 6-11,
40 per cent in the age—group 11-14 and 69 per cent in the
age-group 6-14 (Naik, 1965, p. 30). Thus, while the
coverage of urban area is incomplete, the coverage of
rural area is practically complete.

The brave 1950 stipulation of the Indian Constitu-
tion to provide for compulsory education within ten years
has, however, been a frustrating affair in spite of

increased provision of primary education. The reason for

18
the frustration are many. Some of these reasons for the
frustration are the population explosion, the poverty of
the masses and the apathy among the peOple toward educa-
tion. These factors have stymied the policy of universal
literacy.

The Indian Education Commission has taken note of
this serious lapse and insisted that the government make
necessary funds available for executing the policy of
free and compulsory education. It has also urged the
state governments to achieve, by 1985, the goal of uni-
versal education. But the Commission in 1966 concluded
that the system of

primary education in India continues to be

wasteful; and many children who pass through it
either do not attain functional literacy or lapse
into illiteracy soon afterwards. If we are to
continue dependence on this program for the liqui-
dation of literacy, we may not reach our goal

even by 2000 A.D. (Naik, 1965, p. 32).

This lag in elementary education is best seen in
in the large number of dropouts, for about 75 per cent
of those enrolled drOpout between Classes I and VIII.
What is worse is that 60 per cent of this drOpout
occurs between Classes I and V (Naik, 1965, p. 30)

Naik gives the following reason:
What happens at present is that children of
ages 4 to 14 are indiscriminately enrolled in class
I. Although the total enrolment in Class I is
about 110 per cent of the population in the age

group 6-7, only about 35 per cent of these are of
correct age. And the rest are either below or

19

above this age. The composition is thus extremely
heterogeneous and appropriate for only a third of
of the total enrolment. This creates several peda-
gogical problems in the classroom and also leads
to stagnation and wastage. Wastage and stagnation
are too high at present; of every 100 children who
enter class I, only about 29 reach class VIII
(Naik, 1965, p. 32.

Myrdal reinforces the point in this way:

This dilemma of dropouts is common to Asian
countries. Irregular attendance, repeating,
and dropping out represent a huge wastage of
resources. The wastage is greatest where it
can least be afforded (Myrdal, 1970, p. 118).

In 1975, UNICEF, in its Statistical Profile on
Children and Youth reported that, of the 73 per cent of
the boys and 20 per cent of the girls in the age group
5—11 in India who were admitted to primary schools during
1973, only 45 per cent of boys and 52 per cent of girls
among them entered middle school. In other words, more
than 50 per cent of boys and girls dropped of primary
school.

The 6th Five-Year Plan of India recognizing this
trend, noted, "the emphasis so far has been on mere
enrollment in classes I-V and V-VIII. This has concealed
large dropout rates of about 60 per cent between classes
I-V and 75 per cent between classes i-VIII" (Planning
Commission of India, 1980, p. 220).

The average duration of the school life of a child

is only about three years instead of the usual 7 or 8

years (UNICEF, 1975, p. 7). Because of this wastage

20
the proportion of school-going children in India who became
permanent literates is one of the kmest in the whole of

South East Asia (AERC, 1971 , p. 20).
Highest Incidence of Wastage: First Level

According to Sapra (1967), there is so far no sys-
tematic nationwide study that has been conducted to assess
separately the extent of wastage and stagnation at the
first level of education--the primary school. But on the
basis of all-India figures of enrolment available with the
statistical unit of the Indian Ministry of Education for
years 1951-1957 the following conclusions were drawn.

The total evidence of wastage and stagnation at

the first level of education, that is standards I

to 6 in India is 78.35 per cent. This incidence
remained constant druing that period. Further, the
enrolment data revealed that the incidence is
highest (42.76 per cent) in grade 1, which decrea-
ses as the pupils move from lower to higher grades.
In grade 2, the incidence is fairly high, while in
grades 3-5, it is insignificant (Sapra, 1967, p. 11).

The variation in the incidence among grades was
fOund to be statistically highly significant. It would
thus appear that the real problem lies in grade I and,
therefOre, if children could be retained in school till
they pass grade I, the chances of dropping out would be
appreciably reduced.

The incidence of stagnation and wastage is higher among the
girls (84.79 per cent) than the boys (75 per cent). The

larger overall figure for girls is due to higher incidence

21
in grades I and II where the classes are large and the
teachers are untrained (Sapra, 1967, p. 12).

Among more than a score of studies at the Primary,
Secondary, and university stages of education, four
studies--The Satara Study, The Poona Study, The Gargorti
Study, and the Twenty-Four Parganas Study-- are relevant
to the first level of education (Sapara, 1967, p. 19).
All these studies show the highest incidence of wastage to
be in grade I, and it continues to decrease in the suc-
ceeding grades. All these four studies also show the
highest dropouts rate of girls in the first grade.

A study by UNESCO (1974) on the retention rates in
the South Asian Countries reported that

in member countries the retention rate is less

than 4 per cent of all pupils who start in

grade I. The stage where dropouts occur is

from the first to the second grade. In gene-

ral boys are better retained than girls (p. 5).

Further, a case study of India by UNESCO (1972)
concluded that more than half the total drOpout took
place in grade I.

The magnitude of dropouts in the first grade

and repetition in the first three grades are

the major problems attacking primary stage of

education (p. 115).

Thus, overwheling evidence attests to the fact that

the highest incidence of wastage and stagnation occurs in

elementary education, and the worst occurs in the first

grade.

22

Causes of Wastage

There seem to be a number of variables associated
with drOpping out at the primary level of education, the

most important of which are noted and discussed below.

Home Variables

 

The are two main factors involved in home variables.
They are poverty and illiteracy of parents.

Poverty. The single most important variable which
accounts for the inability of elementary schools to retain
the large number of drOpouts who initially enroll, is
poverty (Kurian, 1974, pp. 410—432). The majority of the
students who drOpout are located in the lower economic
strata of society. All of them, says another source, came
from poor homes (Ministry of Education, 1975, p. 5).

Swetz (979) alleges that cultural demands, combined
with financial difficulties, often prevent able students
from completing their studies and thus contributing to
the large amount of wastage in developing countries The
children of the poor are greatly affected by this one
major factor (p. 2).

Because of poverty, asserts Lundhal (1979) in his
exhaustive study of the Haitian poor, going to school is

a very complicated affair for the children of the poor.

23
The cost of sending a child to school is presumably high
for the parents and rises with the age of the children
(p. 482).

A study on wastage and stagnation in Kerala State,
India, the State with the highest percentage of literacy
(66 per cent of men and 54 per cent of women), concludes
that poverty is a main hindrance, since many children
could not buy even the minimum necessary accessories inclu-
ding clothes and noon meals (Sivadasan Pillai, 1975, p.
32).

By and large, the causes of drOpping out in this
country, India, says Sapra, are economic factors which
contributes significantly to the phenomenon of wastage and
stagnation. It is estimated that about 65 per cent of the
total wastage is due to economic backwardness of the
family (Sapra, 1967, p. 12).

Poverty also creates other effects which make school
attendance and pursuit of learning difficult. Malnutri-
tion among children is one such effect. More than 80 per
cent of pupils in Haiti indicated signs of poor health
(Lundhal, 1979, p. 483).

Inadequate clothing is another effect of poverty.

In rural areas, a great many children go naked, sometimes
until puberty. In order to go to school the children have
to wear uniforms and this cost has to be borne by parents.

Since the drOpouts' families are the poorer amoong the

24
(AERC, 1971, p. 38), the high cost malnutrition, illness,
fatigue, and lack of study facilities at home interact to
depress enrolment and attendance rates and to keep dropout
rate at a high level.

Those who attend during the greater part of the day
are often put to strenuous physical work when they come
home. For this reason they lack an Opportunity to do
school work, both because of fatigue and lack of facili-
ties such as lamps, a place to study and encouragement
from parents.

One other significant reason is the involvement of
children in domestic work for economic reasons. In a
large majority of cases the emplyment of children is in
the family itself and the child is asked to do some work
that will save the employment of outside labor, such as
tending cattle and taking care of younger brothers and
sisters, which will enable parents themselves to go to
work (Lundhal, 1979, p. 485).

The Satara Study and the 24 Parganas Study found
that utilization of children for employment either outside
or within the family was the most important cause of
wastage and stagnation.

In Punjab, India, a study on wastage and stagnation
looked at the income of the families of drOpouts and non
dropouts. The study concluded that children attending

school were systematically in the highe income brackets.

25
Upon this finding the study maintained the hypothesis that
income level was a dominant factor in influencing the ex-
tent of retention. Children at the age of nine years and
above were withdrawn from school because they became eco-
nomically useful to the family among the poor (Kandeka,
1974, p. 32).

Illiteracy of parents. Wastage at the elmentary

 

level also arises from the illiteracy of parents. This
creates a general apathy to education, fatalistic attitude,
resistance to sending girls to school and a lack of inte-
rest in the progress of their children, all of which leads
to such deficiencies as absenteeism, wastage and repeti-
tion.

The Ministry of Education and Social Welfare in
India points out that under the plan of universal educa-
tion, children are now being drawn to school from the
lower strata of society who have very little interest or
no school mindedness (Sapra, 1967, p. 32).

"All of them," says Sapra, "came from illiterate
homes" (1967, p. 37).

Each educated parent tries to provide better and
longer education to his children than what he receivedv
himself. The masses of India, however, are illiterates
and hence apathetic to education.

The children from such parents, therefore, do not

appreciate and pursue schooling and hence swell adult

26
illiteracy in the next generation. "The very education
of parents ensures," says Naik (1965) “the attendance of
children in school" (p. 10)
Thus, home factors, poverty and illiteracy of
parents contribute to the problem of dropping out. We

now turn to the school variables.

School Variables

 

The second major cause that is discussed in connec-
tion with drOpout problem is the school system in which
the disadvantaged children study. Those elements that
are involved with the school are as follows.

Disfunctionality The external factors influencing

 

wastage and stagnation among poor primary school children,
as already noted, are essentially social and economic in
origin and they arise also from the attempt to take edu—
cation to social groups which are poor and culturally
underprivileged. The social standing, poverty, illitera-
cy, and indifference of parents are characteristics that
lie outside of the direct control of educational autho-
rities, agencies, and institutions. But there are, what
are called, internal factors that also have a definite
bearing on the problem. These are components connected
with school environment. The Ministry of Education In

India attests that

27

It is a truism that a majority of elementary
schools in India have unattractive buildings,
inadequate equipment, indifferent and untrained
teachers, over-crowded classes and so on.

All these constitute poor environment; and

as a resultant concomitant of these elements,

it has been estimated that 30 per cent of total
wastage is due to educational causes (MESW, 1968,

p. 30).

These internal factors evoke some important ques-
tions. They are: (1) How effective are elementary schools
in helping to attend regularly, those pupils who are en-
rolled and how efficient are they in their holding power

of pupils? (2) To what extent do they prepare students for

socio-economic activity? And finally (3) what role does
the school play in the lives of the pupils who attend that
might be contributing factors to wastage and stagnation
(UNESCO, 1978, p. 9)?

Wastage and stagnation are due to a variety of school
factors, chief among which are the poor quality of teach-
ers, indifferent teaching, a rigorous system of examina-
tions, lack of knowledge and understanding of the psycho-
logy and behavior of poor children on the part of school
personnel, all resulting in the absence of concern and

enthusiastic motivation for teaching. Paucity and lack of

proper instructional amenities are also partially asso-
ciated with dropouts (MESW, 1975, p. 152). Some of the

serious and specific causes are considered next.

28

Faculty admissiongpolicy. A faculty admission poli-

 

cy is a contributing factor. In some states in grade I
admission is kep Open throught the year. As a result there are
those children who join the school towards the late end of
the academic seesion and are treated as stagnation cases
since they study only for a few months instead of a whole
year.

Incomplete schools. While the provision of schools

 

within 1.5 kilometers now reaches 60 per cent of habita-
tions having 72 per cent of the rural population (MESW,
1978, p. 220), often the school in the village is incom-
plete in that it does not provide all six classes. Since
there is no other school in the neighborhood to reach the
upper classes which have not been provided in the local
school, the child has no other alternative but to discon-
tinue education.

Untrained teachers. A large number of untrained

 

teachers are employed in the primary level. Many of them
are high school graduates. These have no training incen-
tives or inservice opportunities to become knowledgeable
about the art of teaching.

Those who have teaching qualifications have had no
training in special methods of teaching, particularly in
teaching reading and the concepts of numbers, for these

subjects are neglected in training schools and the average

29

teacher is not adequately prepared to handle class I (MESW, 1968.
p. 153. Since a large number of teachers are unqualified
and untrained, ineffective teaching is the inevitable con-
sequence. Such teachers mainly rely on verbal teaching.
However, some educators in India maintain that

When all is said and done the solution to wastage

and stagnation mainly depends upon the efforts of

the teachers and administrators. Because, those

teachersvmo have nobility of faith, honesty of pur-

pose and sincerity of endeavor in their profession;

and those administrators with united and COOpera-

tive efforts can lessen the acuteness of the pro-

blem (Moorthy, 1970, p. 13).

These qualities, coupled with opportunities fOr

teachers to learn the principles and methods of teaching,
would substantially help reduce the 30 per cent dropout

rate attributed to school factors.

Defective curricula The curricula are prescribed

 

and are heavy in academics, even in class I. This empha-
sis is overwhelming even for a child from normal circum—
stances. Improvement in curricula is sadly wanting. "No
area in curriculum is as sadly neglected as in class I
(NECERT, 1964, p. 156). This being the case, it is not
difficult to conceive of the highest incidence of wastage
and stagnation at this stage of elementary education.

Wrong placement of teachers. Misplacements of tea-

 

chers is another factor causing wastage and stagnation.
Teaching in class I needs a carefully trained teacher.

Often, a very young, weak and untrained teachers is

30
assigned to teach class I. The status of a teacher is
correlated with that of the level he or she teaches. A
wrong idea of the status of a teacher thus results in
giving this most difficult Of assignments to the weakest
member of the staff. This practice does not enhance the
retention power in class 1.

Rigid examinations. Rigorous examinations, supposed

 

to produce highly intelligent students, are regularly ad—
ministered to students. The lack of such examinations is
considered to be a lowering of the standards of education.
Consequently, the annual promotion standards of I are as
stiff as those of Secondary School Leaving Certificate
(S.S.L.C.) or matriculation examinations. This practice
has a very disheartening effect on young children, many
of whom just leave school or stagnate even further
(NECERT, 1964, p. 156).

Discriminatory and selective character. Though
educational systems have expanded Opportunities to the
children of the poor, they have still retained their dis-
criminatory and selective character. This fact is mani-
fested in the so-called dropouts and repeaters, generally
in the first three grades. Examinations which are selec-
tive and discriminatory, particularly to the poor child-
ren, take their toll as much as 35-40 per cent at the end

of each year (NECERT, 1975, p. 6).

31
This system is also likely to produce attittudes of
superiority and selfishness among those educated.which, in
turn, helps to increase the social distance between them-
selves and the uneducated masses.

Heterogeneous classes. As Naik says, the age admis-
sion policy of the primary school 5 to 6. Unfortunately,
this is not so firm when it comes to actual admission. In
most cases the actual age of children in class 1 varies
from below 5 to 15. This heterogeneity is due two main
reasons: (1) Instead of admitting children of a fixed age,
say 5 plus, to class 1, children of all ages are indiscri-
minately admitted. In rural areas, especially, many child-
ren of 9 to 11 years of age, often, are admitted as first
timers to class 1. (2) Even when children of the prOper
age are admitted, owing to the large extent of stagnation
some of them stay in class 1 for two, three, four or even
five years (Naik, 1965, p. 36). This again makes the
group heterogeneous. Since it is very difficutl to manage
heterogeneous groups of this type, the quality of teaching
in class I is adversely affected. Thus, the presence of
heterogeneous groups results in stagnation and stagnation
increases heterogeneous groups; and one feeding upon the
other sets up a vicious cycle. The group becomes more hete-
rogeneous because of the large extent of stagnation. At

the same time stagnation increases because of heterogeneity.

32

Describing the dismal impact of school on the drop-
outs, Adiseshiah says that India has successfully develped
the world's most unproductive educational system which
helps boys and girls to drOpout of school, repeat classes
and become rearly totally unemployable (1980, p. 151).

Having considered home and school variables which
influence students to dropout, we now turn to variables

which are associated with drOpouts themselves.

Student Variables

According to Sharma and Sapra (1969), causes rela-
ting to pupil variables are academic deficiency, less or
irregular attendance, higher age and lack of interest.
(p. 98-105). Since these variables are related to econo-
mic and school factors, they are considered as dependent
variables in dropout problem.

Academic deficiency. "Academic deficiency," some

 

writers point out, may not be due to lack of ability. It
may be caused mainly due to malnutrition in the prenatal
and postnatal period (Subramaniyam, 1980, p. 147). Owing
to this reason children generally do poorly in school, and
they are branded as failures early in their school life.
Thus, they are destined for jobs which require little '
skills and originality, simply because they wererunable to

succeed at school tests and exercises.

 

 

33

Another factor making for academic deficiency may be
self-concept of drOpouts.

The society reinfOrces through schooling and

other institutions, the self-image of incompetence

and ignorance for those who do not secceed in

school. As a result the school system continues

the most flagrant and dangerous injustice in the

twentieth century. May those who want to conserve

it at any cost sit down and proble into themselves

and may ponder the scope of the evil and its pre-

dictable consequences (Lundhal, 1979, p. 478).

Irregularity of attendance. This is another contribu-
ting element in the drOpout problem. The rural home atmos-
phere does not create school mindedness. Schools have very
little attracting power. Consequently, the natural unwil-
lingness of the child to leave the play and the work at
home and in the fields and go to school is strengthened
further. For this reason it takes six to eight months for
an average child to become accustomed to attending school
(NECERT, 1964, p. 154). In this transition period his
attendance in class 1 is very irregular. Most children
really begin studies in class 1 in the second year Of their
enrolment. How to provide for the transition period and
how to meet the academic needs is indeed a problem.

Higher age and lack of interest. Comparatively more
children of illiterate parents start education at a late
stage. But the sequential character of the school system
does not help those who enter school at a higher age be-

cause they are expected to complete one class every year

and rise to the next higher class after passing the annual

34
examination. This practice, the lack of encouragement and
the impoverished home background help the poor children to
get disheartened in academic performance.
So far the cause for dropping out discussed in the

literature have been noted. Now we turn to solutions.
Remedies Suggested in the Literature

In an overall attempt to reduce the drOpout rate
many possible solutions have been expressed, but most of
them concentrate on improving the family background and

school environment.

Suggestions for Improving the Home Environment

The Indian Educational Report of 1964 stated that
the only remedy for drOpping out is to improve the general
economic conditions of the masses of India (NECERT, 1964,
p. 150). If the family were to have income over and above
the subsistance level, the parents would be more likely to
let the children attend school instead of using them to
augment their income. Yet, the plans and programs to imp—
rove the rural poor are not working and the wastage and
stagnation continues.

It is here both governmental and non-governmental
agencies should concentrate their efforts by improving the

general economic condition of the family, village and

town. They should do this, some educators advocate, not

35

by handing out hard cash but by providing productive and
gainful jobs through COOperative societies, small cottage
industries and so on. The educators also advocate the idea
that the initiative and effort must be made by locally edu-
cated and concerned people and those with financial means.

It is strongly believed that the child must be
reached though his parents in his home during the very
earliest stage of his development. If one were to be seri-
ous about doing something about the intellectual develop-
ment leading to productive life for the underprivileged
children, it would have to be done by encouraging parents
to change their intellectual expectations and aspirations
for their children. For change, says Shukla (1976), must
come through changed minds resulting changed attitudes of
people (p. 127). There is much truth in this idea but it
would take an enormous amount of concern and dedication
on the part of those who wish to do this. To be success-

ful it must be initiated and implemented by locally con-

concerned people.
Suggestions for Improving the School Environment

The following suggestions are advocated by educa-

tors in India to improve the environment of the schools.

36

Part-time Education. Realizing the fact that general

 

economic improvement will take a long time, it is suggested
in the mean time, that a system of part-tine education, par-
ticularly for children in the age group 4-9 and 10—14, be
provided so that they would be able to work for their fami-
lies and also, at the same time, receive education. The
latest (1980) Five Year Plan of India states this inten-
tion as follows:

A system of part-time, nonformal continuation edu-
cation will be designed fOr children who enter the
primary school but drOp-Out later, generally in the
age-group 9-14. The rule will be that every child
in the age-group 6-14 shall attend school, on a
part-time basis, if necessary for those who cannot,
mainly for economic reasons, attend full-time edu-
cation. This will reduce drop-outs and wastage
very greatly (MESSW, 1980, p. 220).

Multiple-entry system. Having understood that the

 

present system of signlepoint entry and exclusively full-
time education has the two serious weaknesses of encoura-
ging dropping out and lack of provision for grownup child-
ren to join school, it has been proposed to produce a mul-
tiple entry system so that children of the poor could enter
school at different times during the school year and at
different age levels. Again, the latest Five Year Plan

states:

A multiple-entry system will be adopted and
special condensed course of non-formal education
will be laid on programmes for children in the
age-group 11-14. It has been the experience that
these children can be taken to the level of class
5 in 12-24 months (MESW, 1980, p. 220).

37

Adult education. Adult education is deemed to

 

assist effectively in reducing wastage and stagnation. It
is argued that an educated adult, especially a mother, is
the best insurance for the prOper education of her child-
ren. Emphasizing this aspect of the contribution of adult
education in liquidating illiteracy and drOpouts Ranjan
Roy (1971) says:
The educational backwardness of the nation will

have been nearly solved if the women were educated

first. The reason is sinple. An educated mother

seldom allows here children to go uneducated. The

father is not as much effective in this respect

(p. 114).

Liquidation of adult illiteracy, which in turn faci-
litates universal literacy, would be less expensive (Naik,
1967, p. 10) in comparison to the vast amount of money
that are now lost year by year, through wastage and stag-

nation at the elementary level.

Teaching and curriculum. One of the most effective,

 

fairly feasible and immediate programs for the reduction of
wastage is to increase the attracting and holding powerci'
the school by providing enthusiastic, dedicated, qualified and
well-paid teachers and adequate facilities and instruc-
tional materials for teaching.

A teacher is an individual who in the name of teach-
ing conducts herself-himself in such a manner as to induce,
facilitate and maintain other's explorations of the world

and self. The presence of an interested adult for

38
children to feel secure and to grow by interaction with

such an adult is important.

And teaching must be based on the proposition
that 1. Children best learn when involved in self-
centered activity; 2. learning is best when it is
experiential; and 3. the whole child is involved
in learning not just his intellect. In this pers-
pective teaching will put students in a question-
ing frame Of mind, give them tools of analysis,
use problem solving approach, make students explo-
rers, inquirers, interactors and discoverers

(Yamamoto, 1969, p. 45).

Thus while "teaching is the art of leading students
to discover, the learning should be the activity centered

activity engaged in the life about them" (Brembeck, 1962,

pp. 58 and 90).

The curriculum must be related to providing useful

knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are relevant to the

lives of students.

An excellent example of what has been done in
relating the school to the every day need of stu-
dents is found in the comprehensive rural develop-
ment program at Comila, Bangaladesh.

It resulted in a series of innovative programs

such as :

Farm or home-related projects, COOperative
school stores, small rural museums, preparation
of booklets on agriculture, health, sanitation,
and other subjects related to the lives of the
students, and preparation of a booklet on the
”Modern Village Teacher" (Hanson and Neiof, 1976

p. 34).

Nonformal education. Regarding curriculum change
Shukla says, ”The crying need is to drastically modify

the existing system of formal education so as to meet

39
the dire need of life oriented skills (Suklar, 1976, p.
127). With such a keen perception of expanded education
as indicated above, the Central Advisory Board of Educa-
tion laid special emphasis on the develOpment of nonformal
education. As a general strategy, it urged that the ex-
clusive emphasis on the formal system of education should
be given up and a large element of nonformal education
should be used within the formal school system. Multiple
entry and programs of part-time education have to be adop—
ted in a big way for those children who cannot attend
school full time. The board urged that every state should
prepare a concrete and realistic program which should be
made financially feasible through the introduction of a
nonformal element within the existing system (Shikla,
1976, p. 128).

Nonformal education is to cover various educational
needs of nonschool going children or dropouts. It is
oriented to improve their work, earning power, health,
family life, and understanding of social and natural sur-
roundings. These programs are to use different learning
and instructional materials and methods (NECERT, 1976, p.
l).

The National Council on Education in India suggested
that primary teachers and schools should be the agencies

for implementing part-time programs, multiple—entry

schemes and various nonformal education.

40

Organizing of these programs needs the support of
the local community. Particularly, the support will have
to come through the provision of learning facilities, not
only in the school building, but also in the community
(NCERT, 1976, p. 2).

Metha (1970) says that the primary responsibility
for conducting nonformal education is that of the local
and central governments, although the local communities
have to bear the initial and functional responsibility.

The venture would have to rest on community support for

its success. The central and local governments should have
educational and moral responsibility and interest for part-
time and nonformal education as they do for full-time for-
mal education. The modalities for these life—oriented
education are not to be second-rate facilities. Therefore,
it is strongly advocated that the full responsibility fOr
this type of program should rest with the central and local
governments (p. 123).

Raise the school-going age. Naik (1967) suggested
that the children should be brought to school after they
are 9 years old. For instance, he says, it has been shown
through practical experimentation that grownup children of
11 to 14 years of age were able to complete studies of
classes 1-5 in about two years. very often grownup child-

ren of 14-18 years of age were able to complete the course

41
prescribed for classes 1-7 in a period of 2—3 years and pass
Primary School Leaving Certificate Examinations creditably
(Naik, 1967, p. 117). Programs of this type are obviously
very useful and suitable for conditions of a developing
country like India. But these have never been fully deve—
loped, except in a few experimental projects.

WOrk-oriented education. The present trend in India

 

to eliminate wastage is to introduce work-oriented-educa-
tion. Adisesiah emphasizes that work-oriented education
should be productive education. He deplores the reluctance
of the government to introduce such a program to combat
wastage and stagnation. He explains productive work-orien-
ted education as follows:

Productive work in education, first and foremost,
is an individual learning process. To counter it
must be harnessed to social ends, so that it can be
individually purposeful and socially meaningful.

It is any activity which produces good which can be
marketable. Productive education is then any
learning activity where the skills of production
are acquired through actual productive activity
(Adisesiah, 1980, pp. 145).

The Education Abstract further clarifies work—orien-
ted education as follows:

Work-experience is not just learning to work.
It is natural part of general education and aims
at including the habits of inquiry, careful obser-
vation, and experimentation; and developing self-
reliant attitudes toward manual labor. It pro-
vides Opportunities for creative self expression
through the excercise of mind muscles. The stu-

dent is encouraged to participate in the world of
work intelligently and non-mechanically. It is in
these respects that work experience differs from
basic and craft education (MESW, 1978, p. 25).

42
Caution in work-experience education. In spite of the
values of work-oriented and productive education, a cau-
tion is expressed especially by international experts who
have observed scores of various work education programs in
developing countries. Manzoor Ahmed (1975) for example,
gives the following caution.

The well-meaning attempts to ruralize primary

schools fail to make a distinction between (a)
giving the primay curriculum a rural flavor and
making it meaningful to learners by relating it
to the immediate environment, which all good
primary schools should attempt to do and (b)
trying to make "little farmers" out of primary-
school children which the primary schools cannot
do and for which neither the students nor their
parents are prepared (p. 55).

Ahmed adds that such education ignores the flight
of youngsters from rural areas to towns and cities becau—
se of the inability of farming and other rural occupations
to offer young peOple reasonable pay and standard of
living. The issue in work-oriented education, therefore,
is how to teach reasonable income producing skills.

Ahmed very strongly asserts that

there should be no training for jobs which do

not exist or cannot be foreseen and no expec-

tation that once a skill is taught, some how
the learner will find fainful employment

(p. 59).
Commenting on the rural skill programs for dropouts

and out of school youths ICED (1974) notes the following:

43

There is one reason why many rural skill pro-

grams do not easily merge with the rural econo-

mic milieu and remain as instrusion from out-

side is that they fail to take sufficient cog-

nizance of the already existing various essen-

tial life skills. Rural boys and girls begin

to participate in the world of work at an early

age and learn various skills throughout this

apprenticeship process. Seldom are attempts

made to explore the possibilities of these pro-

cesses to broaden and upgrade them by the infu-

sion necessary outside financial and technical

resources which would offer a better prospect

for the learners to fit into the total economy

than would a new superimposed program (p. 68).

In view of all these complexities, it is agreed that the
most important contribution primary and secondary schools
can make is to prepare youngsters for productive work by
giving students a solid general education and helping them
to build a foundation of basic learning skills so that they
can continue to learn.

Children should be oriented, says Stanley, to the
physical, social and biological world in which they have
to perform their productive role; they should acquire
attitudes and values conducive to being productive members
of a society. As part of this general education process
it should be underscored that earning a living through
productive work is a fundamental human need and that
various work-oriented elements should find a place in the
primary curriculum (Stanley, 1975, p. 23).

Additional suggestions. Two educators in India

 

offer lists of things that the schools could do to reduce

the dropout problem. Since they are different than those

44

discussed above, we offer them here. Metha (1970, p.

125) makes these suggestions:

1.

6.

Employ attendance officers.

Arrange better teacher-parent relationship.
Have contact with community and its interest.
Appoint best available women teachers in
grades 1 and 2.

Eliminate late admission in the tail end of
the school year.

Provide inservice training for teachers.

Devaraj Moorthy offers these ideas for reducing

dropouts (1970, p. 15).

1.

Change school hours. Hold school after children
have assisted parents or worked.

Close school during peak agricultural seasons.
Make provisions for looking after younger
siblings at home.

Create the urge to educate the children by

prOpaganda films, cultural activities, lectures

and night classes for children.

Implement ungraded teaching for lower grades.

Arrange special programs for the children of,

the masses: group games, story telling and songs.

45

Summary

Three causes contributing to dropping out have
been noted. The first is the soci-economic background of
the student's family--poverty of the home. Poverty and
its resultant illiteracy and apathy of parents figures
prominenetly in causing dropouts, according to the litera-
ture.

The saxmd cause is the school system. The ineffec-
tiveness and inadequacy of the schools stem from faulty
admission, incomplete schools, untrained teachers, rigid
examinations, discriminatory and selective character of
the schools, heterogeneous classes and inadequate educa-
tional facilities due to lack of funds.

The third cause, is the student factors. These
are academic deficiency, irregularity of attendance,
higher age and lack of interest.

In order to remedy the problem of dropouts, a
number of suggestions are advocated. These are: part-
time education, multiple-entry system, adult education,
teaching and curriculum improvement, nonformal education,
raising school-going age, work-oriented education, and
additional but different helpful suggestions. .

Other educators and development experts like Ahmed,

however, point out, how self defeating some of the reme-

dies could become, if they are not judiciously employed.

46
Such a caution is scmnded against unproductive, non paying and
irrelevant programs if they are not adapted to the local
initiatives and needs.

For this study, the literature review helped to
strengthen the significance of the research. It enabled
the writer to understand the seriousness, universality
and persistence of the problem. And it isolated home and
school factors as critical. Student factors are impor-
tant, but they do no loom as large as the other two.

Thus the literature survey not only gave a preview of the
problem, but also helped to focus on specific factors

around which questionnaire items could be grouped.

CHAPTER III RESEARCH SETTING, METHODS AND PROCEDURES

In order to understand and interpret the findings of
this study, it is essential to understand the context in
which the information was collected. Therefore, this chap-
ter presents descriptive data of the nine schools and

methods and procedures used in this study.
Research Setting

The research setting is the environment of the nine

barding schools in which dropping out took place.

Data Sources

 

The infOrmation regarding the research setting was
derived from three sources, the writer's on site Observa-
tion of all but one of the nine schools during the summer
of 1979, information provided by principals' letters and
their responses to the first cover letter that appears in
appendix and REACH files.

The notes taken during the observation of the nine
schools, the information supplied by principals and REACH
files provided material on the following tOpics: backngund
of the schools, school sites, school buildings, boarding
and lodging facilities, diversity of student population in

the nine schools, curriculum and instruction, work program

47

48
the school day, language characteristics, class size, data

on teachers and REACH students.
Observation Data on the Schools

Prior to the collection of demographic data from
principals and teachers, the writer made a visit to all
but one of the nine schools selected for this study during
the summer of 1978 with a view to gathering information to
determine the effectiveness of REACH program in all REACH
supported schools in India. This on-site visitation in-
volved interviewing principals, teachers and those who
were closely connected with the students, the dormitory
deans and those corresponded with REACH on behalf of the
poor children. The following tOpics are derived from the
observation data.

Background of the schools. The history of these
nine schools is brief and recent. All nine, except Nuzvid,
came into existence within the last twelve years as a
result of the promise of financial assistance to poor stu-
dents by aid agencies such REACH International or similar
oorganizations and the increasing demand for English edu—
cation by the Indian population.

All these schools are called Seventh-day Adventist

English Schools because they were established and opera-

ted by the Seventh-day Adventists Church in India.

49

In all nine schools church services are conducted
either on the school premises or in the hostels. In two
cases, the children go to worship in regular but simple
church buildings.

Since these nine schools are owned and operated by
the Seventhday Adventist Chruch, they neither seek nor
receive government grants or subsidies. This is so be-
cause the Chruch wants to maintain its religious philoso-
phy and objectives in the schools. The schools are fee
levying institutions. They charge each day scholar a
sum of 12 to 15 rupees ($1.00 to $2.00) per month. This
fee covers only the tuition charge; parents also provide
school supplies such as books, pencils, slates and other
items. The boarding students are charged nearly ten times
as much.

At the Kottyam school, situated in Kerala State,
there are boarders whose parents are earning a living in
the Middle Eastern Countries. These children are charged
a much higher fee than the other boarders since they stay
at the school right through the year. The school has
become a home to them, and their parents visit them at
the school once every two or three years.

7

School sites. All the nine schools are located in

 

South India. Politically and linguistically South India
is divided into four major States or Provinces. These

four States are Andhra (Telugu language), Kerala (Mala

50

Yalam language), Madras (Tamil) and Mysore (Kannada)
language. Each language is distinct in its own right.
Three schools: Chittode, Planiyappa Puram, and Puliankudy
are located in Madras. Robertson Pet and Bidar in Mysore
State. Nuzvid and Khurdha are located in Andhra State.
Kottyam is situated in Kerala State.

These schools are situated in semi—urban areas,
each of them within a hundred miles of a major city. Both
bus and train services are available for travel and trans-
portation. Despite their relative closeness to big cities,
there were no major industries in or near the school areas.
The primary occupation is agriculture which is generally
carried out by primitive methods. The poor cultivate the
arable land for the landlords for an income that barely
supports subsistence livelihood. Mostly, these poor peOple
live in shanty villages segregated by their inherited occu-
pational categories.

School facilities. In all these schools the physi-

 

cal facilities are meagre and inadequate. Nuzvid school,
the one not visited by the writer, was established thirty
five years ago. According to one of its alumni, with whom
the writer conferred, it is old and dilapidated. The .
school looked to this former alumnus about the same as it
did when he was a student 15 years ago. There had been

no appreciable change or improvement in physical facili-

ties. The lodging and dining facilities are neither

51
modern nor adequate enough to meet the needs of the
students. Recently, Nuzvid school principal requested
money to renovate the buildings.

The other eight schools started to function in make
shift buildings. They are gradually expanding or impro-
ving their physical plants. However, these additions and
improvements are by no means adequate enough to provide for
the anticipated yearly growth. Owing to the shortage of
funds the inadequacies will likely continue. Three of
these 8 school started with modest buildings and are alrea-
dy overcrowded. There is no immediate plan to provide for
the lack of building facilities.

There are no library facilities in any of these
schools, nor are there any plans fOr them in the future.

The walls of the nine schools are made out of bricks,
while the roofs are made out of burnt clay tiles, zink or
asbestos sheets. Such roofs, absorbing and transmitting
the heat of the sun, can make the pursuit of learning un-
comfortable.

The thinly spread cement on the floors have worn out
in many places, creating potholes. In some schools these
potholes have been filled with concrete, giving the flpor
a patched look.

In five schools, shelters made out of bamboo poles

and thatched roofs are used as additional classrooms.

52
The children in these shelters have no protection against
wind and rain and in some cases sand storm.

No school has more than seven classrooms. The class—
rooms are not well ventilated. As many as fifty to sixty
children are crowded into them. Classrooms have built-in
blackboards on the walls. Seats are made of wooden bench-
es attached to desks which have no space for books or
other learning materials. These benches could comfortably
seat four students; instead six to eight students occupy
the space of four. Such accomodation is possible because
of the small stature of the children. The crowded condi-
tions reflect both the explosion of the school population
and the low level of the economic status of the region.

All the classrooms are bare of any visual aids.

They are without pictures, charts, bulletin boards or any
other illustrative materials. Children use slates for
writing, since paper is expensive.

All schools urgently need additional classrooms,
proper boarding facilities and instructional and learning
materials. Thus, they are inadequate to meet the physi-
cal and educational needs of the children. These condi-
tions may continue to persist both in older schools as well
as in newer ones for lack of necessary funds. to improve.

Illustrative of such needs, as stated above, is the

list of items which the principals requested REACH to apply.

53

1. Teaching aids, such as pictures and games.

2. Flannel graph pictures for different subjects.

3. Pictures of flowers, birds and animals.

4. Films and film projectors for Bible, English

Science and social studies.

5. Game equipment.

6. Drawing materials.

7. Record players and tape recorders.

8. WOrd building materials.

9. Financial help to build prOper hostels.

10. Picture books for reading and writing.
11. A bore will to increase water supply.

The school principal at Kottyam stated his needs

as follows:

Now that the children are grown up, we despe—
rately need separate dormitories for boys and
girls. The children are living in rented quarters
away from the school campus. They lose a lot of
time and energy by walking back and forth to
school.

The living accommodation is so limited that
children sit on their mats to study and do their
home work.

Since water is insufficient, some days the
children have to walk to a distant well to fetch
water. Toilets are unhygienic. Only one lat-
rine is available for 60 children and half-dozen
teachers. The landlord has given notice to vaca- '
te the building by January 1982. Thus, the very

fate of REACH program is at stake (A. M. Thampi,
Correspondence, dated December 4, 1981).

54

Boarding and loding facilities. ,Except at Nuzvid, the
boarding and lodging facilities are meagre. Rented quar-
ters and temporary buildings away from school premises
serve as lodging places. Nuzvid has separate halls for
boys and girls for sleeping quarters. The halls are fur—
nished with cots to sleep on and cupboards to store child-
ren's belongings.

There were no dining room facilities in any of these
schools except Nuzvid. Temporary sheds, cement platforms
and verandahs are used for dining purposes. Often, child-
ren eat their meals in just about any shady place they can
find on the school premises.

Diversity of populations. The student population

 

of these schools is quite varied. Children of profes-
sional parents, pesants, rich and poor, literates and i1-
literates, and high and low castes are all engaged in the
pursuit of formal education. More than 50 per cent of
the poor students are from families whose income is below
the poverty level established by the government.
Curriculum and instruction. The curricula of the
schools are in harmony with the local government's requi-
rements for the elementary education. ,
According to the progress report sent to sponsors
by the schools, all the schools teach the following sub-

jects: Bible, reading, writing, English, regional

55
language, mathematics, Hindi, nature studies, drawing, dur-
tation and physical education. The classrooms are noisy
from recitation. The medium of instruction is in English,
the main attraction for all students, and especially for
the more affluent ones. In keeping with the prestige of
learning English, the schools are called English Schools.

Wrokgprogram In accordance with the philoSOphy of

 

the church, work programs are provided on a regular basis.
The work program at the elementary level consists of pic-
king up trash on the school campus, transporting andgfilhx;
up of fire wood for the kitchen, dish washing, cleaning
classrooms and sleeping quarters, and a little bit of gar-
dening. Whatever is produced in the gardens is used in
the kitchen.

There is no systematic teaching of any skills that
would contribute to learning a trade. There is no plan to
make the work program productive and marketable. Lack of
funds, know-how and planning, and of trained personnel to
teach practical skills, seem to be the reason fOr the un—
derdevelopment of the work program.

In all cases, therefore, the work program is pri-
marily a matter of maintaining a clean school environment

and such other chores as necessary for house keeping.

56

Teachers‘ and students' day at school. Many teach-
ers live in the village and towns near the schools. They
travel daily to school. Some teachers live with the
children in rented boarding houses and take care of them.
Those teachers who stay with the children work around the
clock for no additional pay. Teachers report to school at
8 a.m. All schools begin with the school-day with a wor-
ship period for all children. Following worship, each
major subject is taught in 45-minute periods. Four such
periods constitute the morning session. Lunch is between
12 and l p.m. The afternoon session has smaller time
blocks in which several other subjects are taught. There
is a fifteen-minute recess both in the morning and in the
afternoon.

In the evening, from 4 to 6 p.m., the children
play, prepare their sleeping quarters, wash their clothes
and do other similar chores in order to keep themselves
and the school clean and tidy.

All schools close for vacation three times a year.
They have two-to-three-week vacations twice during the
school year; and a summer vacation during the months of
April and May. '

Language characteristics. One of the distinctive
traits of these schools is the language variation. Child-
ren in five schools--Chittode, Palaniyappa Puram, Pulian-

kudy, Robertson Pet and Thambaram--speak the Tamil

57

language; Bidar school children speak the Kanarese langu-
age; Nuzvid and Khurdah children speak Telugu language;
Kottyam school children speak Malayalam language. Thus,
the four major languages of South India are represented.
The teachers in these schools, obviously, speak the res-
pective regional languages, besides English.

Thus far, the data collected by visitation to the
schools have been described. The demographic data sent

by principals are described next.

Principals' Data

 

A demographic profile derived from data provided
by principals is given on the next page.

Table 3.1 shows the names of those schools, the
number of male and female teachers in each school, the
qualifications of teachers, average years of their teach-
ing experience, average number of students in each class-
room, average number of REACH students in each classroom,
total student pOpulation and total number of REACH stu-
dents in each school and total number of REACH students
drOpouts for each school. Each of these items is

explained after table 3.1.

58
Table 3.1

DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF THE SCHOOLS

 

Students

 

“was Hoonum Hence
an uuaoaoun mo<mm mo oz

23

16

18

15

13

l7

l8

 

Hmuom manage Hooeom
an auaueaum =o<mm Hauoa

98

146 26

119

38

168 21

140

73

74

121

 

union c« Hoonum mo
coaumasnom unavaum Hmuoe

200

243

n63

-295 977 167

 

acoummmau :« muamvaum
mo<mm mo umaasz owauu><

19 276

16 316

11 146

7

10 383

4

12 186

11 146

 

 

Teachers

aoounmmao ca
aucuvnum.wo uunaaz ownuo><

49

37

15

22

33

3O

51

38

15

 

oucoauoaxm
wcanunoa mo ow< owmno><

2

3

4

4

4

6

5

 

muunuuoa no ommuo><

29

28

 

.aeauo Hooaum and: do .oz
mounavauo uwuaaoo mo .oz

2/4 22

3/6 28

7/3 30

7/2 31

1/5

6/
44
S3

 

muunumos oawsom wo .oz
numsomoa can: no .oz

 

2/4

4/5

7/4

3/6

3/10 8/5 33

5/9 4/10 25

1/5

3/5
34

64

 

 

 

 

 

quOmUm m0 mm2¢z

 

BIDAR

 

CHITTODE

 

KURDHA

 

NUZVID

 

PURAM

P.

 

PULIANKUDY

 

ROBERTSONPEl'6/15 6’1 i’ 28

 

THAMBARAM

 

KOTTYAM

TOTAL

 

 

 

59

Teachers. Table 3.1 shows that there were a total

 

of 98 teachers, thrity-four of whom were male and sity-
fOur females.

Three factors might help explain this female dominan-
ce. First, nearly half the women teachers were only high
school graduates, and so, it might have been less expensive
to hire them. Second, very few men want to teach lower
elementary grades because of a general conception that
teaching lower grades is less prestigious. Third, no
other jobs were available for less qualified women teach-
ers. Hence, inexperienced, unqualified women teachers were
assigned to handle the lower grades.

Those teachers who have only Pre-University Course
diploma (PUC) or high school certificates were teaching
Kindergarten, first and second grades.

The average age of the teachers in the nine schools
was 28.

Qualification of teachers. Of the 98 teachers, 44
were college graduates. Seven of the 44 college graduates
held degrees in education, and 2 held elementary teaching
certificates. The other 35 held liberal arts and science
degrees. Of the remaining 54 teachers, 11 held P.U.C..
diplomas and 43 had high school diplomas.

A total of 19, nearly half of those who had college

degrees, were women, three of whom held M.Sc. degrees.

60
Twenty-five men teachers held college degrees. Three of
these were principals and held M.A. degrees as well.

Teachipg experience. The average teaching expe-

 

rience among the teachers was 3.8 years. This short
teaching experience for the teachers in all the nine
schools was due not only the recent establishment of these
schools, but also to the fact that many of these younger
teachers quit teaching for married life or further studies
and were replaced by younger persons.

Class size. The class size ranged from 15 to 51

 

students. Classes with the least number of students were
the upper elementary classes--5 and 6. Those classes with
most pupils were lower level classes, Kindergarten and
first grade. The class size of 40 to 50 in the lower
grades was smaller than the normal size in government
schools, which is 45 to 60 students to a class.

Number of students in the nine schools. Of the nine
schools, only one, Robertson Pet, had a student pOpulation
of over one thousand. The other eight schools were much
smaller with pOpulations ranging from 146 to 300. The
total number of students was :2957. The boy-girl ratio
for all the nine schools was not available.

Number of REACH students in the nine schools. The
number 0f REACH"SUPported students in all the nine schools

was quite varied. Three schools, Khurdha, Palaniyappa

61
Puram and Kottyam, had 119, 168 and 121 students reSpec-
tively. These figures represented over 50 per cent of the
students in these three schools. All the other schools
had less than 50 per cent. Three schools, Bidar, Nuzvid
and Robertson Pet had far less than 50 per cent. Thus,
except for three schools, REACH students did not consti-
tute the major part of the student population.

Out of 2957 students, 977 students were REACH stu—
dents. Of these, 167 dropped out of school during the
academic year 1980-1981.

Based on the number of dropouts identified and
accounted for, the nine schools had an average of 19 drop-
outs per school during 1980-81 academic year.

Most of the REACH students were enrolled in the kwer
elementary grades. About 95 per cent of the REACH student
were Seventh-day Adventists by profession of faith. Only
26 students were non Christians.

Table 3.2 on the next page depicts the percentage of
REACH boys and girls in each of the nine schools. The
table lists the total number of students in each schoolaud
the number of REACH students, followed by the percentages
of REACH students. .
The four school--Pa1aniyappa Puram, Chittode, Khurdha and
Thambaram--had significantly higher percentages of REACH
students than other five schools. Nuzvid had 19 per cent

and Robertson Pet had the lowest, a small 6 per cent.

62

The percentage of girls in each school was smaller.
than that of boys.

Seven of the nine school had well over one third of
the students made up of REACH supported pupils. In three
schools, more than half the students were REACH students.
Schools with higher percentage of REACH students had a

greater number of dropouts.

Table 3.2

PERCENTAGE OF REACH BOYS AND GIRLS FOR EACH SCHOOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Viv-4 (Du—i *H (Du-I1 '44 “-4 C:
m raw raw l o was: 0 c I O H
.4 w a: c I c at c w c
o omo ammo ommmommm H mmmm~
o pen OLJpcp ocuo'oaau wLJmCD C)OCJF4m
; o: <3 saw<s uw<>~ltaw<ul
u OLJG ouJu : 6 static meow 0:: m wk3fi<2
cn zm-H Zest/1H mummamummwmumom
Bidar 276 98 36% 19% 17%
Chittode 316 146 46% 28% 18%
Kurdha 146 119 81% 52% 29%
Nuzvid 200 38 19% 11% 8%
P. Puram 243 168 69% 39% 30%
P. Kudy 383 140 37% 21% 16%
R. Pet 1063 73 6% 4% 2% .
Thambaram 186 74 39% 26% 13%
‘Kottyam 146 121 82% 69% 13%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

63

Table 3.3 below presents the total number of stuients

Sponsored by REACH' and the total percentage of REACH

students for all the nine schools.

There
in the nine
This number
tion in the

There

were a total of 977 REACH sponsored students
schools during the academic year 1980-1981.
was 33 per cent of the total student popula-
nine schools.

were 606 boys, which was 20 per cent of the

REACH students. There were 371 girls which was 13 per

cent of the REACH students.

Table 3.3

PERCENTAGE OF REACH BOYS AND GIRLS IN THE NINE SCHOOLS

 

 

 

1980—1981
ITEMS NUMBERS PERCENTAGE
Students in the nine school 2957
REACH students 977 33%
REACH boys 606 20%

REACH girls 371 13%

64

Table 3.4 below presents the drOpouts' data
collected from the REACH office files.

The total drOpouts for the academic year 1980—81
was 167, or 17 per cent of the REACH students. Out of
167 dropouts, there were 114 boys, which was a 11 per
cent dropout rate; and there were 53 girls, which was a

5 per cent rate.

Table 3.4

REACH DROPOUTS IN 1980-1981

 

 

 

Schools Number in Number of Percentage
School DrOpouts of DrOpouts
Bidar 98 23 23%
Chittode 146 26 18%
Kurdha 119 16 13%
Nuzvid 38 18 47%
P. Puram 168 21 12%
Puliankudy 140 15 10%
Robertson Pet 73 13 17%
Thambaram 74 17 23%
Kottyam 121 18 14%

Total 977 167 17%

 

65

Summing up, it might be said that the profile of
the schools gave a fair picture of the background and
environmental conditions. It pointed out the internal
factors such as inadequate physical facilities, teaching
and learning materials, and untrained teachers, which
according to literature precedents, constitute the
second major cause for dropping out problem. The profile
also helped to understand the lack of awareness of the
seriousness of the problem by school personnel and the
position of teachers both on home and school factors in

the main section of the questionnaire.

66

Methods and Procedures

The following pages describe the research methods
and procedures used in this study, including the indenti-
fication of the pOpulation, the gathering of demographic
data from principals, the develOpment and use of the
questionnaire, and the method for analyzing and report-

ing the response.
Identification of the POpulation

The pOpulation for this study was composed of pri-
mary school principals, teachers, and peers of the drOp-
outs in nine REACH supported private boarding and chris-
tian schools in South India.

Since the universe of population was small, this
study took the whole sample approach. This meant the
inclusion of every primary school teacher who had drop-
outs in his/her class during the academic year 1980-1981,
and the principals. Of these, 32 were females and 13
were males.

The names of drOpouts for the academic year 1980-
1981 were identified according to their names, age, sex,
the year they entered school and the year they left,
entry and exit grades and the name of the school. This
infOrmation was collected from the REACH office located in

Berrien Springs, Michigan.

67

Demggraphic Data from'Principals

After identifying the drOpouts, the first cover
letter that appears in appendix C was written to all the
nine principals. This letter not only informed the prin-
cipals about the intent of the study but also requested
demographic information which included the name of the
schools, number of students in school, number of REACH
students in school, number of teachers in school and their
age, sex, qualification and the number of years of teach-
ing experience. All the principals complied with this
request and sent in helpful information which have been

tabulated and explained in the previous pages.
Development‘of‘the'Questionnaire

It will be recalled that in the review of the lite-
rature, two major causes, poverty in the home and inade-
quacies in the existing schools emerged as main causes of
wastage and stagnation. These factors in turn influence
student performance which has been indentified simply as
student factors in this study. These three causes provi-
ded the basis for the development of questionnaire items.

A three-part questionnaire was developed (see '
Appendix) for collecting teachers, principals' and peers'

perceptions regarding causes for dropping out. The first

section called for basic information on drOpouts and

68
teachers which the teachers supplied on behalf of each
individual dropout indentified on the questionnaire. The
second part contained twenty-nine statements related to
the three causes stated above. Each statement called for
a response on the Likert five-point scale. The third
section, composed of 8 open-ended questions and/or state-
ments, provided for free expression of feelings, observa-
tions, Opinions and concerns relevant to the drOpout
problem.

The name of a drOpout, and his/her I.D. number
issued by the REACH office, were written on each question-
naire. The 134 questionnaires thus prepared were then
grouped according to the teachers who had the dropouts,
After inserting them in envelopes addressed to teachers,
they were further grouped according to schoools. The
teacher envelopes also contained the second letter that
appears in Appendix C. This letter requested the teach-
ers' COOperation and participation in providing their
experienced insights regarding the causes of wastage. The
questionnaires were then addressed and mailed to the
principal of each school.

The teachers were asked to fill out the question—
naires independently for each child that had dropped out
from his or her class. Then they were to send the ques-

tionnaires to Mr. Peter Thavamony, the assistant treasurer

69
of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South India, within
ten days after they had received the questionnaires.

In order to get the perceptions of peers, the
teachers were requested to supply a plain sheet of writing
paper to the friends of the dropouts in their classrooms
and request them to write a paragraph about the reasons
for their friends dropping out of school.

The peers were given the Option of writing in their
mother toungue since they were not proficient enough to
express their views in English. This they did. Their
written reasons were to be sent along with the completed
questionnaires by the teachers.

Mr. Peter Thavamony assisted in collecting and
sending the questionnaires on to the United States. He
also assisted in reminding the principals and teachers to

expedite the return of the questionnaires.
Questionnaire Returns

After two months of waiting no questionnaires had
been returned. The third letter that appears in Appendix
C was written to expedite the return of the questionnaires.
Telegrams were also sent both to principals and Mr. Thava-
mony after the reminder letter was sent. As a result, 63
questionnaires were returned by 29 teachers.

Though the number of the returned questionnaires

70

were fewer than expected, the content of the question-
naires contained useful information for understanding the
position of the teachers, and peers on the drOpout
ptoblem

The principals, who were also supposed to fill out
the questionnaires, did not do so. Instead, all of them
wrote letters about their schools and students which was
very helpful in determining the status of REACH children

in the nine schools.
Treatment of the Questionnaires

The first part of the questionnaires containing
basic information on schools and dropouts, along with the
second part of the questionnaires containing 29 items were
ubjected to a simple frequency percentage analysis. The
results of this procedure are reported in tabular form,
along with discussions in chapter V.

The third section consisting of 8 Open-ended ques-
tions and statements brought some important responses
from the teachers. The responses were carefully read,
grOUped, tallied for their frequency and itemized. This
itemized list for each open-ended question is discussed

and reported with its relevance to the problem of wastage.

71

Treatment of Peers' Regponses

 

Twenty-four students, each in his/her mother tongue
wrote a paragraph describing the reasons for their frien-
ds dropping out of school. These paragraphs were trans-
lated into English and are reported in the next chapter.

Finally, a summary of the research findings with

suggestions for reducing the dropout was prepared.

CHAPTER IV FINDINGS

The findings of this study to determine the causes
influencing dropouts as perceived by teachers, principals,
and peers of drOpouts are presented in this chapter. The
order will follow the three parts of the questionnaire
described in the last chapter, namely basic data about the
drOpouts, the responses of the teachers to the 29 ques-
tionnaire items—-these are stated in tabular form under
three categories: the home background, the school factors
and the student factors--and a summary of teachers' Opi-
nions on the open-ended portion of the questionnaire.

The perceptions of peers of dropouts and principals'
comments are described next. Finally, a section about
the relationships of findings to the precedents in the

literature concludes this chapter.
Basic Data DrOpouts

The basic data gathered in the first section of the
questionnaire, reported in tabular form, describes the
rate of drOpouts among REACH supported students form

whom the questionnaires were returned and the entry and

exit grade status of the 63 dropouts.

72

73

Rate of DrOpouts

A total of 167 boys and girls dropped out of
school during the 1980-1981 school year. Of this total
114 were boys and 53 were girls. Thus among the 167
boy-girl drOpouts, the boys rate was 68 per cent and

the girls rate was 32 per cent as depicted below

Table 5.1

REACH BOY-GIRL DROPOUT RATE AMONG DROPOUTS

 

 

 

Items N Percentages
Total boys dropped 114 68%
Total girls drOpped 53 32%

Total boys and girs dropped 167 100%

 

74

Entry Grades

 

The entry grade table below points out that 80
per cent of the drOpouts entered school in Kindergarten
and first grade and 85 per cent of them were enrolled in

the first three divisions of elementary education.

Table 5.2

DROPOUTS ENTRY GRADE FREQUENCY AND PERCENTAGES

 

 

 

Grades Frequency Frequency % Cumulative %
KG 26 41% 41%
1 24 39% 80%
2 3 5% 85%
3 4 6% 91%
4 3 5% 96%
5 l 1% 97%
6 2 3% 100%

 

Exit gpades

 

Table 5.4 on the next page indicates that 41 per
cent of the drOpping out occurred in Kindergarten and'
first grade. Nearly half (47%) the children whose ques-
tionnaires were returned dropped out before finishing
second grade. The table also shows that another large

per cent (43%) drOpped out during fifth and sixth grades.

75

Table 5.3

DROPOUT EXIT GRADE FREQUENCY AND PERCENTAGES

 

 

 

 

Grades Frequency Frequency % Frequency

’ Cume. %
KC 17 28% 28%

l 8 13% 41%

2 4 6% 47%

3 l 1% 48%

4 6 9% 57%

5 18 29% 86%

6 9 14% 100%

Summary

Summing up this section, it might be stated that
nearly a third of the REACH students dropped out of the
nine schools; most of the drOpouts were enrolled in
Kindergarten and early grades; more than half the drop-
outs spent not more than two years in school; and
another sizable number of dropouts left during fourth

V

and fifth year of their schooling.

76
Rgsponse of the Teachers to the

Questionnaire Items

The responses of the teachers to the questionnaire
items were sumbitted to a simple frequency percentages
analysis, the result of which are presented in tables
according to the research questions raised for this

study.

Home Variables

 

According to the literature on dropouts, the home
variables were considered as the number one cause for
wastage. Table 5.5 groups together the seven statements
on home variables. They include: parent's poverty, lack
of interest, lack of education, using children to improve
family income, inability to pay extra money to school,
attainment of puberty by their daughters and illness or
death in the family.

The table shows how 29 teachers returning 63 ques-
tionnaires perceived these seven items as being related to

the problem of dropouts.

77
Table 5.4

PERCENTAGES ON DROPOUT HOME VARIABLES

 

 

Questionnaire Items N Agree Dis- Unsure
Agree

1. Parents, being poor,
were not interested
in their children's
education. 63 41% 49% 10%

2. Parents, being un-
educated, did not
appreciate educa-
cation. 63 44% 47% 9%

3. Parents changed
residence and moved
away. 63 6% 84% 10%

5. Parents needed the
child to help in-
crease family income 63 15% 43% 42%

6. Parents were asked
to pay for their
child's education 63 44% 44% 12%

7. Parents removed
their daughter from
school upon reach-
ing puberty. 63 21% 79% 0%

8. There was illnes or
death at home. 63 9% 84% 7%

 

On item one, 29 teachers judged that 41 per cent.
drOpped out because the parents were poor and uninteres-
ted in education. On the other hand, 49 per cent of the

drOpouts were seen to have been uninfluenced by it.

78

On item two, the perceptions of teachers indicated
that uneducated parents and their lack of appreciation
for education was the reason that 44 per cent of the stu-
dents drOpped out. The teachers' perceptions disassocia-
ted this reason in 47 per cent of the dropouts. They
were uncertain in 9 per cent of the cases.

On item three, only 6 per cent of the students drOp-
ped out were seen affected by the change of residence by
parents.

On item five, 15 per cent Of the dropouts were
linked to the need for increased family income.

Teachers' perceptions on item six, regarding parents
paying for their children's education, showed an even 44
per cent on both agreement and disagreement category, and
they were not sure in 12 per cent of the cases.

On item 7, 21 per cent of the girls were seen to
have been infleunced by the attainment of puberty.

Finally, on item 8, only 9 per cent of the dropouts
were judged to have been influenced by death or illness

at home.

Discussion. It is significant to note that on three

 

primary home variables, (items 1, 2, and 6), the disagree-
ment differences in percentage points were only 8 and 3
on the first two items, and on item 6, were even with

agreement points. In other words, by a narrow margin of

79

difference in key items, teachers seemed to say that
these key home factors played a significant role in near-
ly 50 per cent of the drOpouts cases. The other four
items, apparently, were seen as less influential in the
dropout problem.

In summary, it might be observed that the percep-
tions of teachers consistently disagreed that all 7
items of the home factors were influential in drOpping
out. But the percentage point differences between agree-
ment and disagreement on three key home factors were
small. Viewed from this perspective, the perceptions of
teachers on these three important home factors indicated
that nearly 50 per cent of the dropouts were affected by
them. Such perception is an affirmation of the findings
of previous research in India as noted earlier in the
literature.

The second major research question was this. Did
the drOpping out occur due to some internal school fac-
tors? The findings about the perceptions of teachers on

this aSpect are described next.

Studnet Variables

 

7

According to the literature on dropouts, the school
variables were ranked as the second major cause for

wastage in Indian schools. Table 5.5 contains the school

80
factors that were assumed as reasons for dropping out in
this study. These factors were: rigid examinations,
strict discipline, teacher-student relationships, inabi-
lity of the schools to meet the needs of the students,
English medium instruction, difference in religious
views of parents differing from that of the schools,
schools' interest in coverting students to Christianity,
principals' efforts to retain students, teachers' coun-
sel, tutorial help for individual pupil, inability of
teachers to counsel parents, large class size prohibiting

individual help, lack of attractive and varied teaching

methods.

81

Table 5.5

PERCENTAGES ON DROPOUT SCHOOL VARIABLES

 

 

Questionnaire Items

N Agree

Dis-
Agree

Unsure

 

13.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

Student failed because
of rigid examinations.

Discipline was too seve-
re for this student.

Teacher could not get
along with student.

It was the fault of the

school that student left.

School unsuited to meet
the needs of of poor
students.

Student found it diffi-
cult to study in Eng-
lish medium.

Student drOpped out be-
cause his parents' reli-

gious views differed from

that of the school

Parents disliked schools'

encouragement to become
a Christian.

Student left even after

every possible effort was

made by the principal to
keep him in school.

Student drOpped out even
after teacher's counsel
to remain in school.

63

63

63

63

63

63

63

63

64

9%

14%

27%

65%

69%

12%

47%

7%

53%

90%

81%

90%

73%

29%

27%

87%

50%

90%

44%

1%

5%

2%

0%

6%

4%

1%

3%

3%

3%

 

82
Table 5.5 Continued

PERCENTAGES ON DROPOUT SCHOOL VARIABLES

 

 

Dis-

Agree Unsure

Questionnaire items N Agree

 

25. Student drOpped out
even after special
efforts to help him/her
in academic subjects. 63 15% 81% 4%

26. I could not give my in-
dividual attention be-
cause of too many stu-
dents in my class. 63 25% 66% 9%

27. As a teacher I was un-
able to contact and
counsel paretns. 63 4% 93% 3%

28. Student would have
stayed if teaching
methods were different
and attractive. 63 15% 73% 12%

29. Student leaving school
didn't matter much
since there were many
others who can take
his place. 63 63% 36% 1%

 

The frequency percentages of these items as depicted
in this table show some factors as being related to drop-
ping out. But most items were perceived by teachers as

V

unrelated to the problem.

83

Teachers disagreed on the following items: failure
due to examination (item 13), strict discipline (item 16)
poor student relationship (item 17), difference in reli-
gious views of parents and that of the school views (item
21), principal's effort to retain students (item 23), tu-
torial help to students (item 25), and inability of teach-
ers to contact parents (item 26). In others words, seven
out of fiftenn, nearly half the school factors, were seen
as un related to 80 to 90 per cent of the dropouts.

Teachers perceived two otheritems listed in table
5.6 as inconsequential to the problem of dropping out.
These were: no fault of the school (item 18) and lack of
attractive and different methods of teaching (item 28).
They indicated that in over 70 or more per cent of the
drOpout cases, these two reasons were not infleuntial in
dropping out.

However on item 18, 29 per cent, nearly one third
of the dropouts, were linked to this school factor. That
is to say, nearly one third of the drOpouts, according to
teachers' perceptions, left school because of the fault of
the school; and nearly two thirds left school because of
seeming indifference to the problem of dropping out since
there were other students who filled in the drOpouts'

vacancy.

84

Item 28 referred to attractive and varied teaching methods.
Teachers associated only 15 per cent of the dropouts with
this item. It seemed to say that the process of education
to which the students submitted was not a primary reason
in the majority of dropouts. It further seemed to affirm
the effective teacher-performance in these schools.

But on item 19, which stated that schools were un-
suited to meet the needs of the students, the teachers
perceived 65 per cent of the dropouts leaving school for
this reason. Such perception of teachers needs to be
further investigated to determine the observable and
measurable evidences that contribute to the dropping out.

It should be noted there, however, that it was quite
possible that when the teachers observed that schools were
unsuited to meet the needs of the children, they meant
boarding facilities rather than those school variables
which were closely connected with themselves and the pro—
cess of education, because this explanation was clearly
expressed in their written comments.

On item 20, which said that instruction in English
was a reason for dropping out, the teachers' perceptions
indicated that this could be one of the reasons for 69'
per cent of the dropouts withdrawing from school. It was
altogether possible that studying in English was just
much for these disadvantaged children. To study in one's

language, which has more than 240 characters

85
(a characteristic common to all four major South Indian
languages) is an onerours task in itself even for those
who are motivated with a good home background. But,
beyond this, to learn through the English medium,
with an additional language--Hindi, the nationnal langu—
age--over and above thier native language, must have been
a tremendous linguistic hurdle to the poor children.
Frustration and defeat might have been inevitable and
dropping out the unavoiadable outcome for many.

Item 21 and 22 were related to religious issues.
In 87 per cent of the cases of dropouts, the teachers
perceived that different religious views of the parents
from those of the schoolvere not a factor inducing the
dropout problem. This posture is understandable since
most of the students came from Christian homes.

The home situation just mentioned sheds light on
item 22 which referred to the interest of the school in
conversion of students to Christianity. On this point,
the teachers noted that it was inconsequential to the
dropout problem in 50 per cent of the dropouts. Another
47 per cent, nearly half of the dropouts, was related to
this reason. Thus the perception of teachers was about
evenly split.

According to teacher's perceptions, the principals

had taken time and effort to counsel 90 per cent of the

86
dropouts (item 23) prior to the withdrawal from school.
The teachers further agreed that 58 per cent of the drop—
outs left school in spite of their counseling.

It is interesting to note that teachers indicated
that giving individual help to students was not hampered
by large class size (item 27). This problem has been per—
ceived as related to drOpping out in 63 per cent of the
cases. The implication may be that the problem or wastage
was not perceived as a noteworthy one for either the scool
or the teachers. This perception seemd, however, to con—
radict their stated affirmation of concern and care in
counseling and tutoring students before they withdrew
from school.

Finally, item 29 which said that dropping out did
not matter since others filled in the places of those who
drOpped out, was perceived as related to dropping out in
63 per cent of the cases. The implication my be that the
problem of wastage was not perceived as a noteworthy one
either for the school or the teachers. This possible
perception seemed, however, to contradict again their
stated affirmation of concern and care in counseling and
tutoring students before they withdrew from school.

Summing up this section, it can be stated that

while, on one hand, teachers perceived several of the

87
crucial school factors as inconsequential to droppin out,
on the other hand, they perceived several other items,
some to a lesser degree and other to a greater degree,
as responsible for the problem.
Having reported the findings on the school varia-
bles, the third research question regarding the student

factors will be considered next.

School Variables

 

The third research question was this. Did the stu-
dent factors cause the drOpout problem? The following
factors were included as student variables in this study:
homesickness, illness, lack of motivation, low academic
ability, poor peer relationships, disruptive and dis—
couragement.

In the literature review it was pointed out that
student factors were classified not as a major cause for
drOpping out of school for the poor childrne. But they
were noted and discussed as the outcome of poverty and
inefficient school environment. In this study, however,
they have been isolated for separate consideration.

A table showing the percentages of student factors
as they related to dropouts in this study appears on

the next page.

88
Table 5.6

PERCENTAGES ON DROPOUT STUDENT VARIABLES

 

 

 

Questionnaire Items N Agree is- Unsure
gree

4. The student was home

sick and lef school. 63 17% 82% 1%
9. The student was sick

and left school. 63 22 77% 1%
10. The student showed very

little interest in

school activity. 63 31% 61% 8%
11. The student was low in

his academic ability. 63 26% 63% 11%
12. The student failed in

exam, discouraged and

left school. 63 17% 82% 1%
14. The student was not

getting along with

other students. 63 14% 74% 12%
15. The student was dis—

ruptive, disrespectful

and disobedient. So

was sent home. 63 2% 96% 2%

 

On each of the above stated student factors, teach—
ers consistently perceived no association between them
and dropping out. Apparently, except for the items 9,.
10 and 11, none of the above items had been highly ins-

trumental in contributing to the problem of dropouts.

89

Students' illness, lack of students' interest and
low academic ability were perceived as reasons for close
to one third (items 9, 10, and 11) and one half of
drOpouts quitting school. These three factors were also
expressed in teachers' comments.

Often, in conversation, teachers placed at least
some blame on the students. But in this case, it is
quite intriguing to note that no such blame has been
placed on the students. In this perception, teachers
were in harmony with the literature findings that the
major reasons for dropping out lay outside the students

themselves.
Summary

In summary, the analysis of the 29 items of the
questionnaire, indicated that home, school and student
factors, put together, were not overriding reasons for
dropping out.

However, responding teachers did feel that these
factors were influential in a substantial minority of
cases of dropouts. The teachers failed, however, to
discern that all other items were inexticably associated
with both home and school factors and dropping out. But
teachers in their hand written comments clearly associa—
ated home, school and student factors with dropping out.

We turn to this third part of the questionnaire now.

90

Teachers' Opinions on Open—ended Questionnaire

 

There were eight Open—ended questions or statements
which asked teachers to express their opinions, observa-
tions and concerns regarding the problem of drOpout.
Their responses to these eight items contributed much to
the perspective of this study. They are listed and dis-

cussed in this section.

Main Reasons for Dropping out

 

Question 1 asked: What do you think was the one main
reason the student left school? Answers to this question
covered the entire spectrum of the questionnaire items and
and a few additional ones. Though worded differently,
they reflected the content of the questionnaire.
Below are 17 items, listed according to their fre-
quency. The number of responses are listed in parenthe-
sis. It will be noted that the first item was mentioned
29 times, while the others were mentioned three times
or less.
1. Student was too young and immature to be away
from home (29)

2. Students' parents expected a great deal of heIp
besides education for their children (3).

3. Students faled because of English language (3).

4. Student did not come back due to illness (2).

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

91

Student, being overaged, found it difficult to
study (2).

Parents wanted the child at home to work (2).
Parents moved away from the school area (2).
Students adjustment to school takes time but
they were unable to take the transition period (2).
Stmkmts were slow to learn and were frustrated
due to lack of progress and success (2).

Grown up daughters were not allowed by parents
to stay in school (2).

Students were needed at home to increase family
income (1).

Student wanted to be home to take care of sick
parents (1).

Parents changed their religious belief (l).
Conditional promotion could have helped reten—
tion (1).

Sponsorship was not on time; so student was sent
home (1).

Student accidently drowned (1).

School took strong disciplinary action against

the student (1).

92

Discussion. Many of the responses to the ques-

 

tionnaire listed before are repetitions of the question—
niare items. They are, therefore, consonant with pre-
vious research findings. However, items, 1, 2, l4, and 15
will be discussed since they seem to reveal critical rea-
sons for dropping out. They are not only different but
indigenous to the situation of the school. Hence, they
are relevant to the understanding and determining of the
reasons for dropping out.

Item 1. This item says that student was too young
and immature to be away from home. It was mentioned by
every teacher who responsed to the questionnaire, and ob—
viously leads the list of concerns. It also raises the
question about the admission policies and the ability of
the schools to provide for and retain such young immature
children.

Item 2. Another reason for dropping out was that
the parents of these dropouts expected more than they got.
Such expectations by parents might have been inevitable
for two reasons. First, they were poor and naturally
they wished to receive as much as they could get. Second,
the sponsors themselves aroused such expectations. Frpm
time to time, after they had built up an amiable relation-
ship with their children through correspondence and had
been made aware of the sorry conditions of the parents

some of them sent extra gifts and financial help.

 

 

93

This extra money and gifts were used strictly for helping
the family. In some cases it was a substantial help.

Not all parents received such additional gifts and
financial assistance, however, since all sponsors did not
or could not<mnte nxhflge in this extra largesse. Further,
this SUpplementary help was not regular; those who rece-
ived did not necessarily continue to receive. Often both
those who received and those who did not, assumed that
the school was withholding gift funds from the intended
recipients. Thus the supplemental aid, given on worthy
and generous impulse, became a thorny issue, a bone of
contention, often between the parents and the schools.
The unfortunate consequence was the uniwise withdrawal of
some children from school by the parents.

Item 14. The third item that deserves discussion
has to do with lack of conditional promotion in the
schools. By conditional promotion the teachers referred
to the promotion of those students who could not do well
because of the English language barrier, along with those
who were overaged for the grade. These, they thought
should be promoted with the condition that they improve
through additional help in English language and tutorial

help for the over aged children.

 

in

94

ItanlS. The final item isolated for discussion is
the late arrival of sponsorship money. This factors,
though mentioned only once, probably played a definite
role in the problem. An explanation, therefore, is neces-
sary. The primary reason for this problem has been the
lack of communication and the length of time involved be—
cause of distance and slow mail services. Another reason
may have been the following.

Church pastors and principals for name and fame and
income, hastily enrolled children in school. Then the
principals took pictures of the admitted pupils, prepared
brief biographical sketches and sent them to the mission
headquarters in India. By the time these were processed
at the mission office and in turn sent to the REACHcffnxz
imm'u>three months had generally elapsed. After the
photographs and data were received in the REACH office,
another similar time period was needed to process them
and to find sponsors for those children. Meanwhile, the
principals, bearing the expenses of the newly admitted
children, found their budget depleted and were faced with
the only choice of dismissing the children.

In summation, the list of 17 items mentioned by'
teachers, though worded differently, were the same as the
<menm,of the questionnaire items. They were, therefore,

in agreement with the ma j or reasons for drOpping out .

95
The four items that were selected for discussion reveal
some probable additional reasons for the problem of

wastage in the nine schools.

Teacher-Principal Efforts to Retain Students

Statement 2 on the open-ended section of the ques—
tionnaire said; list all the things that you can think of
that you as a teacher or principal could have done to
help the student remain in school.

Most teachers' responses to this statement were not
direct replies to the request to list what they could
have done. Instead, they gave suggestions, most of which,
would not involve their personal initiative and activity.
However, three items (items 1, 2 and 4) did indicate
activities that they could have or could not have done.

The following 11 items were the responses of the
teachers. Statement 1 was mentioned 14 times and 2 was
mentioned 11 times. Others were named less than 10
times. They are listed here in order of their frequency.

1. Principals and teachers could have counseled

parents and students (14).

2. Nothing could be done (11). '

3. The school needs accreditation by the govern-
ment (8).

4. Use translation in teaching.

96
5. Provide extra instructional material (7).
6. Help parents financially (7).
7. Provide sufficient care for sick children (5).
8. Provide everything for the child, as in an
orphanage (4).
9. Support Vernacular schools (4).
10. Do not give Adventist education (3).
11. Provide better boarding facilities (3).

Discussion. As indicated above, only three of the

 

eleven items (1, 2, and 4) related to the things that the
teachers could have done by themselves to reduce the num—
ber of dropouts. All other items, except 3 and 10,
clearly related to both the economic depravity of paren-
ts and children, and the inefficient and inadequate
school factors. Therefore, items 1, 2, 4, are first
discussed below. Items 3 and 10 are discussed next be-
cause they seem to go together.

Item 1. Teachers' response to item one in statement
2 said that teachers and principals could have counseled
parents and students. Such a response is not affirmation
of either their own effort or their principals' effort to
counsel. The response simply stated what they could,have
done in answer to the question. From this perspective,
it is difficult to reconcile the teachers' position in

the second section of the questionnaire where they

97
indicated that both they and their principals counseled
not only the students but their parents also.

Item 2. The response of the teachers in item 2
which said that nothing could be done to help retain stu-
dents, seems to show that the teachers and principals were
really at a loss to do anything by themselves to prevent
dropping out. This is more so in View of the fact that
nearly all other responses were those that needed atten—
tion by someone else, probably REACH or church leaders.

Item 4. The fourth item in the list was a response
that indicated what the teachers could have done in
making instruction meaningful and understandable to the
students. They suggested that the English instruction
could have been translated into local languages. This,
the teachers could have implemented if they so desired,
since there is no restriction to doing so.

Items 3 and 10 In these two items some teachers

 

referred to Adventist education and gvernment recogni-
tion of the schools. These two go together as stated
before because the Adventist Chruch runs its schools from
primary school to undergraduate level in India without
accreditation by the Ministry of Education. This has.
been a problem for young peOple, especially at the high

school and college levels. However, this is not a

98

not a problem in primary education. There is no strict
regulation that prohibits children from entering unaccre—
dited schools. In fact, currently, just about any person
or group of people can Open primary schools and serve the
educational needs, especially, of the poor children.
Therefore, Adventist education and recognition by govern—
ment might not have been the real issue in dropping out.

To sum up the responses of the teachers on the
second open-ended question, it can be said that the teah-
ers did not find very many things that they themselves
could have done. All other items not discussed here
revealed the economic conditions of the schools. Thus, in
the open-ended section of the questionnaire the teachers
clearly linked home and school factors to dropping out.

Question three was related to the possible third
party referred to above. This question is described

and discussed next.
Church Leaders' Effort to Retain Students

Question three stated: list all the things that the
church authorities could have done to help the student to
remain in school. .

Responding to this request, teachers stated some
important suggestions. The first two suggestions listed
below were mentioned 26 and 21 times respectively. The

others were named three or four times each.

99

1. Parents need to be educated; so church leaders
should go to parents and explain and emphasize
the value of education (26).

2. Provide the physical needs of the family (21).

3. Make personal visit to home of parents (4).

4. Paents should not be given the impression that
the school would provide everything to the stu-
dents, which leads to disappointment and
bitterness (4).

5. Support the child till sponsorship comes (4).

6. Support school administrators and teachers (4).

7. Provide jobs for the family (3).

8. Retain local language as medium of instruction
(3).

9. Church authorities badly neglected their respon—
sibilities (3).

Discussion. It is significant to note the recurr-

 

ing emphasis by teachers on economic, jobs and education-
al needs of parents (items 1, 2, and 7). Such emphasis
clearly answers the basic research questions of this
study about poverty of the home and its consequence.

In fimu items (1, 3, 4, and 6) teachers identified
some of the most simple, practical and inexpensive ideas
which they thought the church leaders could have performed

in order to lessen the dropout problem.

100

In item 9 they frankly expressed the lack of any action on
the part of the church leaders.

There are three items (3, 5, and 7) that need
particular explanation here, since they seem indirectly
related to the major causes.

Item 3. By saying that church leaders should make
a personal visit to the homes of parents, teachers seemed
to have perceived the value of personal contact with the
poor peOple by important people like church leaders.

They indicated that such contact could have helped
retention.

ngmé In item 5 teachers said that the school
should support the child till sponsorship for him/her
arrives. This aspect has been discussed on the 92. It
was pointed out that because of the delay in securing
sponsorship and communication due to distance, the child-
ren were dropped out of school for lack of funds. But it
is interesting to note that teachers believed that if
church leaders were concerned they could have done some-
thing about it, since they knew that money was sure to
come.

In conclusion, it might be stated that teachers'
perceived that improving the economic, physical and job
situations of parents through personal interest and con-
tact by church leaders the problem of dropouts could have

been minimized.

101
Another thirdy party that could have done something
to reduce the dropout problem is REACH. The next state-
ment relative to this point brought the suggestions

discussed below.
What REACH Could have Done to Reduce Dropouts

Statement 4 said: List all the things you think of
that REACH could have done to reduce dropouts.
Teachers responding to this statement gave 8
suggestions that are listed below.
1. Give more money to the family (21).
2. Teach parents the value of education (16).
3. Sponsor students ten years and older (5).
4. Select students according to their academic
ability, since many are academically poor (5).
5. Enrol students who really like to study and
want to become somebody (4).
6. Give gift money to every child (4).
7. Write letters to students encouraging them to
study (4).
8. Visit parents and students (4).

Discussion. Teachers overwhelmingly named the .

 

first item listed above, namely, giving more money to the
family. Thus, once again, they emphasized unequivocally
the economic needs of the family which, according to

literature, was the number one cause of wastage.

102
This emphasis not only runs through but also dominates
their written responses. Therefore, the teachers clearly
perceived that improving the home background and espe-
cially its economic status would be essential for minimi—
zing drOpouts.

Items 3, 6, 7, 8 are singled out below to see what
teachers might have meant by each item.

Item 3. When teachers said that sponsorship should
be given to children over ten years of age, they were
expressing an important suggestion made in the literature
on wastage and stagnation. They saw that sponsoring such
children might help reduce dropouts and retain them in
school until they became literates.

Items 6, 7, and 8 These items are different from

 

the suggestions made in the literature review. The teach-
ers perceived that REACH writing to and visiting students
could have given some encouragement to students to stay on
in school.

In conclusion, the teachers made several sugges—
tions that REACH could have done to reduce dropouts.
While some of them were related to the basic causes of
wastage, some were different and unique. '

The next question is about how the parents could

be educated.

103

How and Who Should Educate Parents

Question 5 stated: Describe how parents could be
educated in order that they might inspire their children
to value education. Who should do this?
Teachers expressed the following opinions in their
written responses:
1. Reach should make arrangements to educate
parents (3).

2. Church and government agencies should provide
aduult education (3).

3. Local pastors and teachers should educate
parents (3).

4. Each one teach one (2).

5. Hold parents meetings and teach them the value
of education (2).

6. Teach parents through children (1).

7. Enlist local volunteers to educate parents (1).

Discussion. These seven suggestions to educate

 

parents seem to indicte that teachers and those close to
the peOple ought to take responsibility for adult educa—
tion. These ideas, further, seem to underscore the con-
cept that when people were mentally stimulated with a

problem, they would produce their own strategies to solve

their own problems.

104
They also explicitly suggest the use of local per-
sonnel and local resources for implementing adult educa—
tion.
An educated adult, a parent, especially the mother,
as the literature pointed out, is an insurance for the
education of her children.

The next question deals with funds for educating

parents.

Should Sponsorship Money be Used to Educate Parents

Question 6 asked: Do you think part of the spon-
sorship money should be used to educate parents? Please
explain your answer.

Discussion. All the responses to this question

 

said that no part of the sponsorship money should be
used to educate parents, since it was not even enough to
educate the children. The teachers were unanimous in
asserting that the teachers should be used to educate
parents and that REACH should make separate arrangements
for additional funds for this purpose. Three teachers
said "No" and gave this reason. They said, illiterate
adults would be ashamed to be taught by youn teachers:
The next question deals with the reasons for REACH

students continuing to stay in school.

105
Reasons for REACH Students Staying in School

Question 7 asked: Please list some important reasons
for REACH students whom you or other teachers now have,
have not drOpped out of school.

In response to this request, the teachers were
unanimous in saying that children who were continuing to
stay in school did so because their uneducated parents
did not wish them to go through life by the same route——
poverty and misery-—that they were traveling. Whether
the teachers realized it or not, their observation presen—
ted a paradox; Lack of education works both to casue
drOpouts and to prevent them. Apparently, some parents
themselves uneducated, arouse that motivation in their
children which helps them to continue in school, while
others resign themselves to cultural and religious fata—
lism.

Teachers listed the following additional reasons
for children continuing to stay in school.

1. REACH aid has lessened the home financial

burden (9).
2. Children were academically fit for learning (7).

3. Children were anxious to learn (7).

106

Discussion. Once again, the teachers confirmed

 

that the home background involving parents' better eco—
nomic status, education and interest were the reasons
for children persisting in school.

The last two items focus on the student factors
that helped the children to continue schooling. The
teachers did not, however, mention their classroom or
their school environment as reasons for REACH children
staying in school. School efficiency is a factor that
the literature review points out as a second major help-
ful factors in retention of students. Yet teachers were
silent on this matter.

The final question requested the teachers to express
any other concern they might have regarding the problem.
Their responses and discussion of those responses are

described next.

Teachers' Other Concerns and Opinions

Question 8 said: Please describe any other concerns
and ideas you have about REACH children dropping out
before they complete their schooling.

Nearly twenty concerns were expressed by teachers,
most of which were similar to the suggestion already

discussed. Four concerns, however, were not previously

mentioned. These are:

107

l. REACH children were asked to work on campus,
while other boarders were exempted.

2. Important areas were neglected, such as lack of
facilities for training in music, typing, and
farming.

3. A number of students in standards 4 and 5 were
put back into lower standards because for their
lack of understanding in English.

4. Baptisms of parents and children took place
upon the assurance that the children would attend
English school, where they would receive all they
needed. This disturbing trend would defeat
the very purpose of the sponsorship program.

Discussion. The four concerns singled out here pro-

 

bably played some important role in the dropping out.
Thus, another set of additional reasons were perceived
by teachers as contributing factors to the problem.

Summing up the open-ended section of the question-
naire responses by teachers, it might be said that
teachers unfettered responses not only confirmed the
major questions of this study but also brought out some
crucial reasons for dropping out that are unique to the
context of the schools and their philosophy.

They also enumerated a number of variables and

important suggestions for alleviating the dropoutgxobkmn

108

Principals‘ Correspondence Data

All nine principals were requested to fill out the
questionnaire. But they chose not to do so. Instead,
they wrote letters. In general, their letters stated
that they did their best to retain or bring back the drop—
outs. Their opinions are summarized below.

While all of them avowed that they did their best
to retain the students, only two said that they prayed
and counseled with both students and parents. Five of
them stated that "They (the children) have not informed
us as to their reason why they dropped out. They did not

return to school after summer vacation."

Three principals said that "Parents being new
converts, expected a great deal of help and since such
help was not forthcoming, they took their children out
of school.” One principal said, "We are following a
different method of selecting children. We take only
those who realize the value of education." Finally,
another principal wrote, "We do not know their where-
abouts, therefore, we are not in a position to fill the

questionnaires."

Discussion

 

The above experts from the principals' letters

seem to speak for the lack of concern for the dropouts.

109
They also appear to verify the lack of concern that the
teachers expressed when they said that children dropping
out did not matter since others were substituted in place
of drOpouts. Thus two important items; lack of concern
and lack of awareness of the problem seem to emerge from

principals' and teachers' comments.

Peer Perceptions

 

Teachers in the Upper grades, the fourth and fifth,
were requested to hand a sheet of paper to the friends of
dropouts, or to their entire class if they desired to
make it a class project, and ask them to write a para-
graph explaining the reasons why their friends or class—
mates left school. The students were given the option of
writing in their mother tongue, since they were likely to
be more proficient in that than in English.

Only two teachers responded to this request and one
of those did not comply. The one that did not comply
wrote to say that the children were not in a position to
articulate their thoughts, even in their vernacular, and
therefore they could not do the writing.

The other teacher complied by having 24 students
write in the Tamil language. Upon reading the 24 respon—

ses one became immediately aware that they were quite

uniform.

110
Apparently, the teachers had written several question—
naire items, which the children had copied. Inciden-
tally, the teacher had picked seven items that dealt with
family and student factors. 'nxse were: 1) The parents
were very poor, so they stopped their son from coming to
school. 2) Parents did not appreciate education because
they were poor. 3) Parents wanted the student to work at
home. 4) Parents wanted the student to care for his
younger brothers and sisters. 5) The students did not
come back to school because they were not interested in
education. 6) Students went to cities and towns to earn

money. 7) The parents were poor, so the went to work.

While most of the reasons given by peers were very
similar to the questionnaire items, it will be noticed
that the last two items are new. They throw additonal
light on why fifth and sixth graders dropped out. Per-
haps, having found formal education unsatisfying and un-
rewarding, eager and curious adolescents sought to ful-
fill their need to be independent in towns and cities.
It is quite possible in an urban area for a boy of 12 to
15 years of age to earn about Rs. 400.00 to 600.00 amj
for a boy of 16 to 18 years to earn Rs. 700.00 to 9.00 a
year, roughly ($50 and $75 to $87 to &112) a year).

Since the uncertain rewards of formal education were in

the distant future, the tempting attraction of immediate

111
reward was not only real but was inherent in their ado—
lescent need of freedom and financial independence. The
lure to leave school, even for lower primary school child—
ren, was therefore greater than the desire to remain in

school.

Some Unique Findings

 

There were some unique perceptions which the teach-
ers expressed in the Open—ended section of the question-
naire. These perceptions were also meaningful in under-
standing the problem because they came out of the parti—
cular context of these nine schools. The following are
those perceptions: 1) Parents changed their religious
belief and took the child away. 2) Adventist education
might have been repelled some drOpouts. 3) Hasty baptism

parents by pastors and their undeliverable promises of
financial help to them led to unrealistic expectations
and ultimate withdrawal of children from school. 4) Re-
ceiving of gifts from sponsors by only a small number of
children caused jealousy and discord which some times
caused the withdrawal of children from school. And 5)
lack of contact with parents by school personnel and .
others involved in educating children caused a gulf in
communication and understanding. Collectively, these

factors might have aided in some degree the drOpping out.

 

112

The teachers' suggestion on solving the problem of
drOpouts are also valuable. These are: 1) School person—
nel or church pastors should conduct meetings to encou-
rage and educate parents to appreciate the value Of edu-
cation. 2) Teachers, pastors, students and volunteers
should be enlisted to provide basic literacy and nummera-
cy to adults. Each educated person should teach another
person.

Another valuable idea suggested by teachers is
that REACH should write personal letters to sponsored
students.

Such ideas, the teachers seemed to be saying, if
nourished, developed, supported and excecuted could prove
to be invaluable tools for minimizing the dropout problem.
Such genuine concern for the oppressed and powerless poor
could improve their concept of personal worth, their self—
image and their personal dignity. Recognizing them as
important human beings can be the first step to ward
improved lot in life.

These humane concerns, the teachers perceived as
helpful factors in reducing dropout problem.

The following section relates these findings to'

the findings brought out in the literature review.

113

Relationship of Findings to

Precedents in Literature

How are the findings of this study similar or dif-
ferent from previous studies as reported in the litera-
ture? A look at that question will be helpful to place

the current study in its prOper perspective.

Homebackground

 

The literature survey indicated that poverty was
the single most important variable which accounted for a
majority of students dropping out before they finished
their education at the elementary school level. The so-
cio-economic backwardness with its consequences-~illi—
teracy, indifference toward education, inability to moti-
vate children and keep them in school—-played a primary
role in contributing to the drOpout problem.

While, on one hand, a majority of the response on
the questionnaire denied that poverty and its consequen-
ces were the causes of students dropping out, a sizable
minority indicated that poverty and its consequences were
closely related to the problem. In addition, the hand
written comments of teachers in the Open-ended section of

the questionnaire linked poverty directly to wastage.

114
Therefore, considering the total findings, it can be
sanithat the findings of this study did support the pri-
mary cause of dropping out cited in the literature review.
Additionally, the teachers overwhelmingly and repeatedly
experssed the need for financial help, job Opportunities,
and education for parents and the need to provide all

expenses which are factors of the primary cause of wastage.

School Facotrs

 

All previous research on wastage in India concluded
that the school factors were the second major cause for
the withdrawal of children before they completed primary
education. Some of these were: 1) Inability to provide
universal education. 2) Inability to hold those enrolled.
4) Inability to set apprOpriate Objectives. 5) In ability
to achieve the objectives. 6) Inability to provide ade—
quate physical and learning facilities. 7) Inability to
provide trained and well paid teachers. And 8) inability
to adapt and modify verbal instruction and rigorous exami-
nations.

The teachers strongly disagreed with all except 4
of the 15 school factors. They perceived that 11 schopl
factors were not the reasons for dropping out in a majo-
rity of the cases. Such response on the part Of teachers

was not in harmony with the literature precedents, which

115
labeled the school factors as the second major reasons for
dropping out problem in elementary schools.

But the four school factors which the teachers
strongly agreed with, the unsuitability of the schools to
meet the needs of the students, instruction in English
language, students drOpping out even after teacher's
counseling, and the fact that drOpping out did not matter
since there were others who replaced dropouts, clearly
show the role of the school in the dropout problem.
Teachers' written comments further indicated some other
school factors such as the alck of instructional mate—
rials, lack of boarding facilities, lack of vocational
curriculum, and conditional promotion. From the pers-
pective of these school factors, one might say that the
findings of this study upholds the literature assertion
that inefficient and inadequate school atmosphere contri-

bute to the drOpping out problem.
Student Factors

Available literature on drOpouts did not characte—
rize student factors as critical to the dropout question.
Often, student characteristics were reckoned as conseq
quent and concomitant factors of low socio-economic home
background and internal inefficiency of the school.

In this respect, when the teachers perceived that

the students were immature, over aged, slow to learn,

116
and/or less motivated, they were referring to the out-
comes Of the children's disadvantaged home background.
From this point of view, the teachers were in agreement
with the findings or previous research, though not cons—
ciously or deliberately. They definitely did not blame
the students.

The literature survey indicated that the highest
incidence of wastage occurred in the first two grades of
the elementary stage and then decreased significantly in
the upper grades. The findings of this study, confirmed
this fact. But denied the latter, the high rate of
dropouts in fifth and sixth grades. Thus, the findings
of this study that children dropped out to make money
in towns and cities, as mentioned by peers, was a new
phenomenon in the context of this study.

The literature supports the view that girls dropped
out of school in larger numbers than boys because of
cultural beliefs and cutoms. The findings of this study,
however, conclude that boys dropped out in greater numb-
ers than girls. The reason as pointed out earlier, could
be that boys, more than girls, seek freedom and financial
independence in the adult world and in the exciting
attractions of towns and cities. It is also possible
that girls from Christian homes are not so much tethered
to customs and traditions as those from non-christian

homes.

117

Although the literature review classfied school
factors as the second major reason for wastage and stag-
nation it did not mention the language barrier raised
by English instruction as a significant factor. Perhaps,
this was due to the fact that English instruction was not
a variable in elementary education where and when those
studies were conducted. But in recent years English as
the language of instruction has become important
part of elementary education, especially in private
schools since the English language has been retained
as the official language in India.

.The findings of this study, on the other hand, did
indicate that English barrier was one of the probable
reasons for wastage in these nine schools. Teachers
reported that in 69 per cent of the dropout cases,
English as the medium of instruction had played at least
a partial role in the problem of wastage. They also
stated that in several cases children from upper grades
were transferred to lower grades because they could not
cope with English language.

Thus, what is called "bread and butter education"-—
the English medium instruction schooling-~was probably
one of the reasons for the disadvantaged poor children

dropping out of school.

118

In conclusion, the findings of this study upheld
the major findings of previous research in India cited
in the literature review. In addition, the study yielded
some causes that were peculiar to the schools situations.
It also brought out some practical suggestions for redu-

cing the problem of wastage in the nine schools.

CHAPTER V SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Findings

Some interesting and helpful findings related to
the problem of wastage emerged from the data collected.

These were as follows.

Demographic Data

 

l. The total REACH student population for all the
nine schools was 33 per cent. Boys' population was 20
per cent and the girls' was 13 per cent for the academic
year 1980—1981.

2. The average drOpout rate for all the students
in the nine school during the year was 5 per cent.

3. For the 167 REACH dropouts, the rate of dropouts
among boys was greater than it was among the girls.

The figures were 68 per cent and 32 per cent respective-
ly for the school year 1980—1981.

4. Forty-three per cent of the 163 dropouts spent
only one year in school. More than half the dropouts
(56%) spent only two years or less in school.

5. Twenty per cent of the 163 dropouts spent four
years in school, and 15 per cent spent five years in
school. Only 9 per cent spent 6 years in school.

119

120
Responses to the Questionnaire

An analysis of the 29 items of the questionnaires
indicated that all home factors, all but 3 school factors,
and all of the student factors were seen to have been un—
influential in the majority of the dropout cases. How-
ever, on three key home factors-—poverty, illiteracy and
apathy of the parents—-near1y 50 per cent of the dropouts
were preceived to have been affected by these factors.

The three school variables which the teachers rela—
ted to dropping out were English medium instruction, un—
suitability of schools to meet the needs of the poor
children and the perception that dropping out did not
matter since others replaced the dropouts.

Teachers' formal written responses in the open-
ended section of the questionnaire, however, clearly and
unequivocally associated all three variables--the home,
school and student—-with the problem of wastage. The
data indicated several other reasons, such as admission
of immature children as a result of parent's baptism and
instruction and examinations in English language, as
positive contributors to the problem. Thus, the children
were subjected to additional causes of wastage along with

the regular causes of wastage.

121

Some crucial suggestions such as visiting, educa—
ting, providing economic assistance and job opportuni-
ties to parents were expressed. The need to alleviate
the problem of over-aged and under-aged children, lack
of instructional and proper boarding facilities, and the
need to provide non academic courses through nonformal
education leading to useful and gainful employment
were also mentioned.

These were undoubtedly important suggestions, that
may help reduce dropouts, if implemented. An expanded
explanation of these points is dealt with in the sec—
tion on recommendations.

Essentially, then, from the perspective of teachers
this study not only only helped to confirm that the major
causes of wastage were poverty—ridden home background
and inefficient school factors but also some other
vital factors unique to the context and nature of the
institutions. These reasons, probably, may have been
influential in contributing to the problem of wastage

in the nine schools.

122

Implications of the Study

 

There are mainly three groups for whom the study is
meaningful or has some implications. These are the offi-
cials of REACH, the sponsors, and the school personnel
who are intimately involved in accomplishing the purposes
of REACH. Recommendations stemmping from the findings of
this study are enumerated separately in this chapter.
Here, only the implications for these three groups are

discussed.

Implications for REACH Officers

 

The findings of this study presents mainly two
challenges to REACH officials: the acceptance of the
reality of the seriousness of the dropout problem and its
consequences of wastage of economic and human resources,
and how to solve the problem that is continuing to per—
sist in varied aspects.

An acceptance of the problem, poses an important
question,tfiat is, is the formal education under present
circumstances in the nine schools the best way to help
the poor children? It may also discredit REACH and its
efforts to help poor children to become productive and

useful citizens.

123

But the study, in fact, does not present problems
that are forbidable deterents to the growth and progress
of the purposes of REACH. It does not denegrade REACH,
the school or those involved in the program. It simply
identifies areas of weaknesses and problem causing ele-
ments which need to be corrected, improved and strength—
ened in order to increase the retention of the poor stu-
dents in schools. Viewed in this light, the findings of
this study can help REACH acheive its major objectives of
helping the poor children to become productive and useful
through education.

If the study, instead, presented a glowing image
of the program, which is what too often those who run
programs would like to see and hear, the problems that
under lie it would not be detected and would continue to
persist. As it is, this objective study has how identi-
fied the problems and made constructive recommendations
aimed at tis solution.

All this, in conclusion, raises some critical ques—
tions for REACH which need to be answered. They are:
is dropping out a serious problem to REACH? How does it
bear on the growth and progress of the program? Should
the problem of wastage be ignored or solved? If so, how?

A focus on these questions may aid REACH to refine its

 

124
existing concepts, goals and programs in order to facili-
tate the accomplishment of the objective of alleviating
poverty through human resource development.

While the dropout problem spells out the wastage
of human and economic resources, it does not pronounce
the doom of the program. Therefore, closing down of the
Operation is not the logical or wise solution. It is not
desirable to cover up the problem hoping it would correct
itself and disappear. An expansion of the REACH program
for the sake of making it a large and great project, or
to pepetuate its existence without addressing the problem
is also a grave mistake. The problem is serious and must
be faced seriously. There is no short-cut or quick-fix
solutions. It must be tackled slowly and step by step with

the understanding that change comes slowly.
Implications to Sponsors

There are two related factors that motivate sponsors
to do philanthrophy, religion and its call for compassion-
ate deeds, and closely allied to it, the feeling of moral
obligation.

People who believe in God are conditioned to accept
the fact that humanity is one; and because they hold that
God is the Father of this family of man, they beleive that

it is the duty of His children to help one another.

125

As indicated earlier, 99 per cent of the sponsors are
Seventh—day Adventists. Since REACH is working with and
in the educational units of the church in which they
beleive and belong, there is very little that would dis-
courage them from supporting projects like REACH.

When the problem of dropouts began to occur, and
the sponsors were asked to take a substitute child in
place of dropout, they were understanding enough to
accept the explanation given by REACH. Practically,
there was no resentment among the sponsors. 'nxefollow—

ing is written by one of the sponsors in connection with
this problem:

We have been impressed with the honesty, since-
rity, forthrightness and uprightness shown through the
years to us by REACH, and pray that God will continue to
bless as you render service to mankind--Danald Kneppel.

Janesville, Wisconsin, Letter dated September, 1980.

Implications for the Schools

 

According to the findings of this study the
teachers did not come out clearly and say that school and
their prefessional practices were responsible for the.
dropping out, even though they did nail down four school
factors contributing to the problem and indicated some

school deficiencies in their written comments. They seem

126
to put the blame largely on others—parents, REACH or
church leaders for the problem of dropouts in their
schools.

Thus, the teachers in nine schools, as teachers in
any other schools would do, exempted their professional
practices and their institutions from being likely contri-
butors to the problem of wastage. While this is human and
natural, it does not help them to become aware of the
real causes of drOpping out and its ill effects. As noted
in the review of literature, more than 30 per cent of the
dropouts have been linked to the inefficiency of the
schools. The school personnel was also totally unaware
of the tremendous efforts put forth by the Indian govern—
ment to change the highly formalized educational system.

There is need for teachers and principals to
realize that the deficiencies and indifferent attitude
indicated in the study are detrimental to retention of the
poor children in school. A continual support of such
education without a realization of the school effects on
the problem of dropouts is a sheer wastage of both finan-
cial and human resources. Instead of depreciating the
school or school personnel, this study indicates a real
challenge to tactfully help the school people to recog-

nize, accept, and initiate solutions.

127

The study should be an eye opener to REACH and

the school personnel to avoid continued perpetuation of

an emxetnmithatis inefficient and wasteful. This pers-

pective is well enunciated by Coombs in these words.

Expenditures on the wrong kind of education or
highly inefficient educational arrangements can
be downright wasteful and even counter productive.
The educational systems of most developing coun-
tries are not only too small but in many respects
are ill-adapted to local development needs and
available resources. If large expenditures on
them can be fully rewarding, these systems must
be drastically overhauled in structure, content,
quality and methods. Such reforms and innova—
tions are just as essential to quantitative
eXpansion (Coombs, 1965, p. 3).

Therefore, REACH, school personnel, sponsors
and church leaders need to understand that

"there is no magic in education, except as
we give it magic. Education can heal or kill,
build up or tear apart, lift or deprave. It is
an instrument that can be used for good or
evil. We must learn to use it well" (Brembeck,
1966, p. 233).

128

Recommendations

 

From the perspective of the research findings and
the conclusions, the following recommendations are made
not only to help understand the problem but also to carry
out efficiently the goals and purposes of both the REACH
programs and that of the schools involved in helping the
disadvantaged children to become productive citizens.

1. To understand the nature and seriousness of the
problem of wastage and stagnation, an attempt should be
made by those who are concerned to disseminate research
information on dropouts through reading materials,
inservice for teachers, principals, pastors and other
church leaders involved in educating poor children. An
awareness of the problem in all its ramafications is
important to initiating strategies for solving the
problem.

2. It would be much helpful if REACH were to pro-
vide inservice training for teachers in elementary
grades on methods of teaching to make learning meaning-
ful, enjoyable and productive. This may improve the
interest of the poor children and thereby their retenj
tion in school.

3. Reach should study the effectiveness of the for-

mal education for the poor children in preparing them

129
for earning a livelihood. It may help to think, plan
and implement other relevant educational programs aimed
specially at poor children who do not have a rich educa—
tional home background.

4. Since most teachers expressed that parents were
given false hopes and their immature children were indis—
criminately admitted, REACH should provide some simple
but definite and observable guidelines regarding admis-
sion procedures. This may eliminate a sizable wastage.

5. Since the teachers suggested that visiting
parents would help in solving the wastage problem,

REACH should enlist the cooperation of school personnel
and church leaders in periodically visiting the homes of
children. Such a visitation program should contribute
to the growth of self-worth and positive attitude of
parents.

6. Since the teachers expressed the Opinion that
parents should be helped financially, REACH, if possible,
should explore avenues for improving economic status of
the parents through cooperative societies and cottage
industries. Organizations similar to REACH are deter—
minedly turning to improve the economic conditions of the
family.

7. Since most of the teachers stated that parents

did not value education and that they should be educated,

130
REACH may want to further inquire from the teachers and
church leaders as to how such education can be accomp—
lished. Their suggestions should then be used to initi-
ating adult education for the parents of sponsored child—
ren. Myrdal's idea of educating the whole family and
community units could be tried.

8. Since the teachers pointed to the lack of ins-
tructional materials and proper boarding facilities,
REACH may want to raise funds especially for these pur—
poses.

9. REACH may want to consider the introduction of
part-time education for the poor children, since it has
been found to be practical and inexpensive.

10. REACH may wish to study both the short and long
term results of the use of English as the medium of ins-
truction for poor children, many of whom are over—aged
and find it difficult to learn in a tongue not native
to them. It is possible that many of those children
would not become proficient in English and other subjec-
ts in which it is taught even if they went through long
years of schooling. Perhaps, in this connection remedial
programs and some sort of accountability for the progress
of the poor children in these schools should be introdu—

ced so that the schools become more responsible.

131

11. Since it was pointed out that upper grade
children were leaving school for jobs and money, REACH
should study ways and means of introducing nonformal
education suited to the elementary level, or modify the
existing work-study program in these schools to make it
productive in marketable skills. These efforts could
help children to earn while they learn, and thus increase
the retention power of the schools.

Another useful possibility is that of providing
practical training in multigrade teaching for Upper
grade teachers who generally have small class size, in
order to reduce lower-—elementary class size. This would
allow increased individual attention to younger children
and saving of funds.

12. REACH should undertake a study of dropouts
and their parents, since this study did not do this.

Such a study is necessary for further enlightenment on
the cause of drOpouts and stagnation from the perspec—
tive of parents and dropouts, especially for making
decisions for introducing any form of solutions for redu-
cing drOpouts.

13. To enhance the effectiveness of REACH and the
schools' efforts to help poor children, a study of the
extent of the stagnation in these schools would be
essential. It could help target the levels at which

the problem is most acute.

132
14. Since children of the poor are the main and
the ultimate beneficieries of the aid program, every
possible attempt should be made to find out when children
are most needed at home and at work and conduct schools

at such times the children are available for schooling.

APPENDIX

AIPP’EPGD I)( A

QUESTIONNAIRE

REACH EKHKXHJ DROPOUT STUDY QUESTIONNAIRE

DIRECTION: Please supply the following information as
requested in each section. Complete all
the questions.

SECTION I Please supply the following information.

School name Class you teach

 

Your position: Teacher or Principal (Circle one)
Your age Sex: Male or Female (Circle one)

Student's age Standard the student left

 

Student's entry date Entry class

 

 

Student's exit date

 

SECTION II Each of the following statements has five
responses. Indicate how important you feel each
statement is by circling one of the answers.
Please fill one questionnaire for each child.

Circle the number 1 if you strongly disagree with the

 

staement.

Circle the number 2 if you disagree with the
statement.

Circle the number 3 if you are uncertain about the
statement.

Circle the number i if you agree with the statement.

Circle the number 5 if you strongly agree with the
statement.

The student name dropped BECAUSE: .

 

SD D U A SA

1. Parents, being poor, were not
interested in their child's
education. 1 2 3 4 5

135

 

10.

11.

12.

l3.

14.

15.

16.

136

Parents, being uneducated, do
not appreciate education.

Parents changed residence and
moved away.

Student was home sick and left
school.

Parents needed the child to help
increase family income either by
working with them or by helping
to look after younger children.

Parents were asked to pay money
to share their responsibility
for their children's education.

Parents removed their daughter
from school upon reaching puberty.

There was illness or death at home.

The student was sick and could not
stay in school.

The student showed very little
interest in school activity.

The student was slow in his
academic ability.

The student failed in the exami-
nation, discouraged and left.

The student failed because of
tough examination.

The student was not getting along
with others.

The student was disruptive, dis—
respectful and disobedient. So
he was sent home.

Discipline at school was too
strict for this student.

SD

SA

 

 

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

137

The teacher could not get
along with the student.

It was not the fault of the school
that the student left school.

The school is unsuited to meet
the needs of the student.

Student found it difficult to
study in English medium.

Student's and his parent's religion
differred from that of the school.

Parents disliked school's encour-
agement to become a Christian.

Student dropped out even after
every effort was made by the
principal to retain him in school.

Student dropped out even after
teacher's counsel to remain in
school.

Student dropped out even after
special efforts to help him/her
in academic subjects.

As a teacher I was unable to
contact and counsel parents.

I could not give any individual
attention to the student because
of too many students in my room.

Student leaving school did not
matter much since there were many
others who can take his place.

Student leaving school did not
matter much since there were many
others who can take his place.

SD

SA

138

SECTION III Please express your honest opinions, obser—
vations and comments on these questions or state—

ments.

1. What do you think was the one main reason the
student left school?

2. List all the things you can think of that you
as a teacher or principal could have done to
help the student remain in school?

3. List all the things that you can think of that
the church leaders could have done to help the
student remain in school.

4. List all the things you can think of that REACH
could have done to reduce drOpout problem.

5. Describe how parents could be educated to ins-
pire their children to value education. Who
do you think should do this?

139

6. Do you think part of the sponsorship money
should be used to educate parents to value
education? Please eXplain.

7. Please list some important reasons why REACH
supported children whom you, or other teach-
ers may now have have not dropped out of school?

8. Please describe below any other concerns,
opinions, and ideas you may have that you
want us to know about REACH students drOpping
before they finish schooling?

You may feel free to use the next page to expand
your reSponse to any of the above questions.

Thank your very much for your effort and COOpe—
ration. '

 

-.... *rwxr- 1"

4.1;“

 

APPENDIX B

A Description of REACH International

141
A Description of REACH International

REACH is an acronym for Render Effective 51d to
EHildren. Since the founders intended the project not
to be confined to India alone, the word International

was added to emphasize the scope of its mission.

Conceptualization of REACH

 

The idea to create an aid agency came as a result
of personal encounted with hundreds of children in des—
perate condition in India by the director of REACH and
his wife. They had volunteered to conduct workshops for
Seventh-day Adventist Church school teachers during the
summer of 1979. Nine workshOps for elementary teachers
on methods and motivation were conducted in different
parts of the sub-continent. During those intensive ses—
sions, the wistful glint in the eyes and the desperate
looks on the faces of deprived and disadvantaged child—
ren standing as onlooker outside the schools where the
worshops were conducted arrested their attention. The
question, how to provide an opportunity for those hund—
reds of children a way of escape from poverty and igno—
rance kept ringing in their minds.

The director and his wife were aware of the libe—

ral nature of Seventh-day Adventists, especially in the

142
U.S.A. This knowledge inspired them with confi‘
dence that a merciful effort to assist the poor children
would not go unheeded and that it would be an acceptable

concept. The idea to establish REACH was thus conceived.

Concept to Concrete Action

 

The concept of helping the poor children became a
reality by the following steps. After the director and
his wife returned to the U.S.A., they articulated their
idea to friends, neighbors, and former missionaries to
India. The interest was keen and supportive. On a
designated day, those interested were invited to a dinner
meeting to discuss the matter. The discussion clima ed
in an enthusiastic commitment to the proposition to
create an organization. All eight husband-and-wife teams
present, by virtue of their interest and commitment, cons—
tituted the original board members of the project.

At the next meeting, the by-laws prepared by the
writer and his wife, were ratified. A corps of adminis-
trative officers were elected for a term of two years.
Thus on October 17, 1973, REACH International was for-
mally organized. '

On that very occasion those present showed their
tangible support by pledging to sponsor six children in a

Seventh—day Adventist school in Puliankudy, South India.

143

Location

Like many other similar organizations, REACH had a
small and simple beginning. For the first few years, it
OCCUpied a corner in the basement of the director's house
with old furniture salvaged for office use. After three
years, REACH moved to an apartment at 133 Meadow Lane,

Berrien Springs, Michigan.

 

Characteristics

 

According to a one-page description prepared in its
office, REACH International is a volunteer, charitable,
tax—exempt organization dedicated to render effective aid
to children in needy countries of the world. It is ope-
rated and managed by didicated Seventh-day Adventist lay
volunteers with their menas, time and effort. It is the
avowed intention of REACH to operate on funds received as
sponsorship money for the care of the children. None of
the administrative personnel to this day has been remu—

nerated in any way for his/her services.

Objectives

 

The objectives stem from the personal encounter
with children earlier described. To bring those and
others who are still outside the pale of schooling and to

give them a chance in life by cultivating their minds

144
and selfhood is the paramount goal. To feed, clothe and
educate them for usefulness in their environment and a

better level of living are the primary objectives.

Philosophy

 

One of the definitions of philosphy, among others,
is that it is the sum of an individual's ideas and convic—
tions, a system of motivating beliefs, concepts and prin—
ciples. These principles eventually control the conduct
and quality of life of the ones who believe and practice
them. Accordingly, the concept of aiding poor children
and putting that concept into practice by those engaged
in REACH have their inseparable and unequivocal roots in
Christian principles. The sum and substance of which is
contained in the principle of love to God and love of
man. The latter is not only the outgrowth but also the
explication and evidence of the former.

Nearly every one involved in REACH, including
sponsors, is a practicing Seventh—day Adventist Christian.
They subscribe to the belief that to be a genuine Chris-
tian, one must be constrained to practice disinterested
benevolence and have an active concern for the welfare of
all human beings, especially for the unfortunate ones.
They are guided by the Christian scriptural teachings,

the essence of which is "Let us love one another: for

love is of God: (1 John 4:7). Thus the people who manage

145
the program believe that the sacred Scriptures eXpect and
obligate Christians to function in a vertical and horizon—
tal relationships, with duties to God and to fellow men
inextricably bound together. The words of Pestalozzi, who
first showed love and concern for the education of the poor
children, well expressed this theistic philosphy: "Stive
from your childhood to honor God in the poor, and for the

sake of God to see the lowliest of man as your brethren,

 

your friend and your neighbor."

These, then, are the bases and motivational cons-
traints that brought the organization into operation.
Such are the correlates for the concern and compassion for

the unfortunate humanity.

Obtaining Children for Sponsorship

D. R. Watts, president of South India Union of Adventists,
supplied pictures of children from different schools under
his jurisdiction. When these were sponsored, the word got
around to other church leaders in India and they in turn
requested help to sponsor pupils in their schools. These
requests were filled as soon as sponsors were found. By
and large, this has been the only way the children have
been taken for sponsorship. Obviously, great faith has
been placed in church leaders to select and educate

poor children.

146
Church leaders in several other countries such as
Burma, Bangladesh, Rwanda and Haiti also heard or read
about the program and requested sponsorship help for their

needy children.

Criteria for Selecting Children

 

Despite religious orientation, REACH affirmed that
children, regardless of caste, race, and religion, should
be eligible for help, if, as further stipulated, they came
from families that are at or under poverty 1evel--Rs. 300.
00 per month income (aaproximately $35.00). Finally,
REACH advocates that only children under 14 years of age
should be chosen for initial sponsorship because of their

helpless nature in society.

What Sponsorship Provides

 

The children are being sponsored into two types Of
schools: boarding and day schools. Those who are admit—
ted to boarding schools receive, or are supposed to rece-
ive, three meals a day, school supplies, two sets of
uniforms for one school year, and formal education. The
day scholars are to be provided with a midday meal, two
sets of uniforms, school suplies and formal education.
All children are entitled to any andeamry extra curricu-

lar activity, such as field trips, camping and sports.

 

147
Minimal but necessary medical care is also expected to

be provided with the funds sent to the schools.

Securing Sponsors

 

Because of expensive advertising costs, REACH first
Opted to secure sponsors by word of mouth. As stated
earlier, the original board members sponsored the first
sixty children. They in turn spread the new to their
friends and reighbors.

As time went on, REACH eagerly sought to advertise

the program in the Lake Union Herald, a weekly church

 

newspaper for the Lake Union Conference of Seventh-day
Adventists, which serves the four Great Lake States of
Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. Obtaining per—
mission to do so was a very slow and painful process be-
cause of the nature of the program, that of fund raising
from church members. At last the coveted permission was
granted and an advertisement was printed in the Herald.
It read as follows: "REACH International is a charitable’
voluntary, tax—exempt organization to help sponsor poor
children in Adventist schools for $12.00 a month. Hund—
reds of children in Adventist schools await your spon~
sorship. Write to P.O Box 34, Berrien Springs, Michigan
49103 or call (616) 471-7460." Slowly but steadily, the
responses came from all four states. By means of this

first entering wedge in the above—mentioned church paper,

148
REACH was able to advertise in almost all regional church
papers in North America at a nominal sum of $8.00 to $12
an advertisement.

Several other avenues were then Opened as a result
of advertising in regional papers. First, the Student
Movement, a paper published by Andrews University student
association, published an article that Spread the word
throughout the world among Adventists. Then the Adven—
tist churches, here and there invited REACH to talk about its
project. These avenues exposed REACH to many people in
the U.S.A.

In Canada, a friend and former teacher of the pre—
sident of REACH volunteered to write two feature arti—
cles in his church paper that covered all of Canadian
Adventists. The response from this was very good.

Finally, as a climax to all this publicity, the
editor of the official organ of the world church, the

Reviewrand Herald, having heard of the good work, reques—

 

ted REACH to send in an article for publication. When
this happened, nearly 400 children were sponsored within
two or three weeks. Hundreds of others asked for more
information. '
Further advertising measures were next undertaken.

A slide and cassette tape program was produced by Richard

Dower and Elaine Messeraul. Currently, this has become

149
the sole means of advertising the program was for secu—
ring sponsors because, one by one, the editors of the
Church papers mentioned above declined to print REACH
advertisements. The reason for this, as stated in a
correspondence from one of the editors, was as follows:

Your wrote to us regarding using your ad seven

times during this year and also for the year
1981. I am sorry that at this time we are having
to decline. We are bringing our policy in line
with other Union papers, and based on this new
approach, we will no longer be running your adver—
tisement for fund raising. Very frankly, running
your ad can be an embarassment to me as I have to
turn down other fund raising ads which were ques-
tionable in nature. However, the people interes-
ted in having those ads run cannot wee the dif-
ference between their copy and yours (Ernest N.
Wendith, editor, Columbia Union Conference of

SDA Visitor. Leter dated, July 2, 1980.

Recently, a brochure called REACH Facts (1980)
has been printed and is being circulated. Finally,
REACH puts out a quarterly report which is sent to all
sponsors and interested friends. These have been and

are the various means by which sponsors and interested

persons have been attracted to support the program.

Process of Sponsorship

 

The process of sponsoring children has been not
only a learning—by—doing experience but also an ever '
growing and complicated one. Hence, it will continue to

be a renewing process.

 

150

When people hear or read about the program, they
usually write for information. Such inquiry receives the
following attention. An address card is typed and filed.
A standard thank-you letter with a tear—out section at
the bottom providing application particulars is sent to
the prospective sponsors. If interested, the person
fills out the application and returns it to the REACH
office with a check for 15.00 (the current rate) for a
month or, as in many cases, $180.00 for the entire year.
The secretary pulls out the previously typed address card
and codes it with "S" for sponsor and the address is fed
into the computer.

The check is processed through an coounting system
called the "Very Best System." The sponsor is sent a
picture of the child with brief biographical data, the
name of the school where the child studies and his/her
address. Along with this information, the sponsor also
receives a standard one-page letter containing pertinent
information as to how to communicate and make it a re-
warding experience both for the child and the sponsor.

A list of all the sponsored children and their
sponsors is sent to the various overseas directors '
under whose supervision the children are placed.

Sponsors can write to their sponsored children.

With the help of their school teachers, the children are

151
supposed to write to their sponsors at least four times
a year. Regular or even occasional correspondence is
the life-line of this operation and is crucial to a heal-

thy relationship all around.

Financial Information

 

In the beginning, expenses were negligible. The

founders and friends met these minimal financial needs.

 

Currently there are more than 2500 children being
assisted in 18 schools and 53 children in two orphana-
ges by nearly 1800 sponsors.

While the project is steadily growing, it is also
facing knotty problems such as continuing dropouts,
inability to care for the truly destitute children and
the administration of assistance to render maximum bene-
fit to those to whom it is purported to be given.

REACH is in the black and on a sound financial
base. Last year funds amounted to over three thousand
dollars.

REACH's potential for growth is very encouraging.

152

How REACH Links with the Schools

REACH was organized and is operated by a group of
concerned lay Seventh—day Adventist Christians. There—
fore, from its inception it looked to the church for
facilities and personnel to help achieve its goal of
helping the poor children.

The linkage began when the president of REACH con-
tacted the president of the South India Union of SDA
Mission in South India, Mr. Ron Watts. Watts, keenly
interested in helping the poor, was primarily instrumen-
tal in starting these nine schools. He sent to the REACH
office pictures of and information about children needing
sponsorship. These in turn, with a biography of the
children, were sent to potential sponsors when they indi—
cated a desire to help a child though school.

The main function of REACH has been collecting
funds from sponsors and sending the money to the mission
office in India. Since the mission was already a reci-
pient of financial assistance for sponsoring children
from similar aid programs, REACH simply took it for
granted that the school and their administrators would
follow the same procedures and fulfill the same require-
ments for caring for the sponsored children as they did

for these other aid agencies.

153

Furtner, owing to lack of necessary funds and per—
sonnel to monitor the program, REACH trustingly left the
process of helping the poor children to the administra-
tive machinery of the church. The organization did not
and could not manage or supervise the functions of the
schools. Instead, REACH kept itself away from operation,
governance and process of education in these schools.

The sequel to this hands—off history was the deve—

lopment of an attitude on the part of those to whom the

funds were entrusted that REACH would not seriously
question the schools' operation and outcomes since REACH
was perceived primarily as an Adventist aid agency.

Essentially, then, REACH remained merely as a fund
raising entity with insignificant involvement in the pro—
cesses of helping the poor children.

Each summer, however, the REACH president visited
some of the schools and a favorable verbal report was
presented to the advisory board, which was satisfactory
to the board members.

But the alarming dropout problem and other educa—
tional perplexities came to surface from the data gathered
from the nine school for this study. Because of this re—
velation, REACH has begun to discern a definite need to
get involved in the functioning of its program in the

schools more than it has been in the past.

APPENDIX C

Correspondence

REACH INTERNATIONAL
P. O. Box 34, Berrien Springs, MI 49103

November 10, 1981

Dear Mr. (Name of the_principal)

 

Greetings from REACH International!

We at REACH are trying to get a clear picture of your
school situation in order to understand the reasons
for REACH children dropping out of your school.

Therefore, as a first phase of our inquiry into the
matter, please be kind enough to send us the follow—
ing information about your school:

Name of your school

Number of students in school

Number of REACH students in school

Number of teachers in your school
Teachers' gender

Teachers' qualification

Teachers' age

Teachers' experience in teaching in years

Thanking you for your cooperation and prompt attention

to this matter I remain,

Very sincerely yours,

N. Jacob

“a.

REACH INTERNATIONAL
P.O. Box 34, Berrien Springs, MI 49103

January‘ 25, 1982

Dear Mr. (Name of the Principal)

We wish to thank those of you who have graciously, pains-
takingly and promptly complied with our request and sent
the preliminary information on REACH dropout study.
However, several of you have not yet responded in form

or fashion to our request.

A few of you have written to us acknowledging the receipt
of the questionnaires we sent. We do realize that with
Christmas vacation you might have been busy with a num-
ber of things. But now we are wondering if you would be
kind enough to consider this matter with a sense of
importance and urgency both to the continuance and better-
ment of REACH services and program, and give this matter
your immediate attention.

Please expedite the filling out of the questionnaire
and send in the requested preliminary information to
us instead of to Mr. Thavamony at the Union office.
This would save some time. If you have already sent
them on to him, please disregard this request.

It is our sincere and earnest prayer that our Lord
God might bless you and your colleagues in your most
noble endeavor of training young people for a produc-
tive and useful life and service on this planet.

Very sincerely yours,

REACH INTERNATIONAL
P. O. Box 34, Berrien Springs, MI

December 6, 1981

Dear Teacher:

Our sincere greetings from REACH International. We
believe that you are doing your best for the children
under your care. May God continue to grant you wisdom
and strength to meet the needs of the poor children.

It is of great concern to us, and we are sure that it
is yours also, that an increasing numbers of REACH
supported children are dropping out of school within
a short period.

We are quite ignorant of the real causes for children
leaving school; but we believe that you are in a good
position to give us the reasons. Your experienced
perspective, due to your personal and close contact
with the student, is valuable to the understanding

of this problem.

Such an understanding would assist you and your school
in planning and implementing workable strategies to
reduce the number of dropouts. Secondly, we will also
have some factual information with which to explain
the problem to the sponsors of these children who
wonder why a poor child would turn his back on a rare
Opportunity to improve his lot in life.

We request you, therefore, to answer the attached
questionnaires as candidly as you can, and to the best
of your knowledge. Please think back of the students
who dropped out this year from your class and respond
to the questionnaire. You are free to answer, if you
so choose, questions two to eight in section III on
one questionnaire only since your answers might be
repeats.

We also request you to hand out a clean sheet of paper
to those peer—friends of dropouts in your classroom
and ask them to write a paragraphas to why they think
their friends left school. You may, if you wish to,
do this as a class project and let your whole class
write a paragraph. You might want to write the names
of drOpouts which appear on the questionnaire so that

 

 

Page 2—-Letter to teachers

the children can recall their personal experience with
their classmates.

If they cannot write in English, they may write in their
mother tongue. Please treat their writing confidential.
Put their writing in the self addressed envelope along
with your questionnaires and send them to Mr. Peter
Thavamony at South India Union Office. within ten days.

Please note that you need to answer your questionnaires
yourself, individually. Your answers will be treated
confidentially. No one will se your answers except
REACH personnel in U.S.A.

 

Your prompt attention and COOperation will be greatly
appreciated.

Very cordially yours,

N. acob

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