Causes of Early School Leaving in Secondary Education

Abstract

Early school leaving is a big problem both for the individual and the family, as well as for the school and the whole society. Students who leave school without qualification have much worse opportunities in the future, regarding career, income, promotion, health conditions, etc. In Hungary, secondary school dropout is a current problem; however, the ratio of it must be under 10% by 2020 according an EU strategy. There are several causes leading to school dropout, such as, family background, conflict between family and school, absenteeism from school, bad school achievements, weak school contacts, school failures, etc. The purpose of the research was to find the main causes of early school leaving – according to teachers’ opinion. The research was carried out in a Vocational Centre among teachers in the form of self-administered questionnaire in 2017. In the questionnaire, five categories were identified (students’ features, family, peers, teachers, and institution) that may contribute to dropout. The result showed that out of the five categories teachers think that mostly students and least the institution is responsible for dropout.