| dc.description.abstract | Background: About 57% of school-aged refugee children are out of school, the majority of who are girls at 51%. Adolescents and youth (14 to 24 years old) account for 33% of the refugee population in Uganda. The majorities of who are over-aged, out of school and suffer from a lack of appropriate learning and employment opportunities (Education Response Plan for Refugees and Host Communities in Uganda, September 2018). Despite all of these Challenges yet education remains a basic human right for all children, and those who are not in school are being denied that right. Furthermore, failure to access and complete a basic cycle of quality inclusive primary education seriously limits future opportunities for children.
Aim: The study aimed at establishing factors contributing to school dropout among school going children without completing and signals transmitted by aspects of school environment that lead learners to drop out of school in Imvepi refugee settlement in Arua district.
Methods: The study was a descriptive qualitative and quantitative cross sectional study design that employed the use of questionnaires and interviews data collection techniques intended to examine the factors contributing to school dropout among school going children in Imvepi refugees settlement Arua district West Nile region. The findings were obtained on a sample size of 120 respondents from 6 of the 13 schools which were targeted. The data were obtained from school dropouts, school administrators and local council members.
Results: Findings from this study indicate that dropout rate among girls in Imvepi refugee camp was 61.8% while that of boys was 38.2%. These findings show a high dropout rate among girls than boys in the settlement.
Conclusion: There are many interlocking factors that contribute to increase the risk of children dropping out of school. These include: low academic performance, weak family support, low coverage and distribution of schools, long distances to school. All these factors interact in the context of weak economic and social conditions in the refugee camp.
Again the findings of this study revealed that the poor academic performance, teenage pregnancy and early marriage, overcrowding of the class rooms, orphan hood, language barriers and divorce among others were the main causes of dropout in Imvepi refugee camp. | en_US |
