Dynamics of School Dropouts in Rural Punjab

The present study is an investigation aimed at understanding the gender related risk factors in rural school dropouts. A sample of 100 children, aged 10 and above was drawn randomly from 6 randomly selected villages of Ludhiana district (Punjab). Children were equally divided [50 boys, 50 girls] to form 2 groups i.e. dropouts and school-goers. 100 parents were also interviewed. Pareek and Trivedi's Socio Economic Status Scale, Mehta's Achievement, Values and Anxiety Inventory and Mishtra's Draw-a-Man test were used to assess socio economic status, achievement motivation and intelligence of the respondents. Two self-prepared questionnaires were also framed to study the attitude of parents towards education of their children and to study the social environment of the children with reference to their family, personality and school variables. No significant differences were seen among respondents with regards to their intelligence and socio economic status, but differences were evident as far as their achievement motivation was seen. Majority of parents held a neutral or negative attitude towards the education of their children. Marriage among girls and shouldering financial responsibilities with the family had made a large number of children discontinue their studies.