PMID- 36862641
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20230306
LR  - 20230419
IS  - 1932-6203 (Electronic)
IS  - 1932-6203 (Linking)
VI  - 18
IP  - 3
DP  - 2023
TI  - Determinants of School dropouts among adolescents: Evidence from a longitudinal 
      study in India.
PG  - e0282468
LID - 10.1371/journal.pone.0282468 [doi]
LID - e0282468
AB  - INTRODUCTION: India has the largest adolescent population in the world. However, 
      many unprivileged Indian adolescents are still unable to complete schooling. 
      Hence, there is a need to understand the reasons for school dropout among this 
      population. The present study is an attempt to understand the determinants of 
      school dropout among adolescents and identify the factors and reasons that 
      contribute to it. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Longitudinal survey data- Understanding 
      Adults and Young Adolescents (UDAYA) for Bihar and Uttar Pradesh has been used to 
      identify the determinants of school dropout among adolescents aged 10-19. The 
      first wave of the survey was conducted in 2015-2016, and the follow-up survey in 
      2018-2019. Descriptive statistics along with bivariate and multivariate analysis 
      was used to observe school dropout rates and factors associated with it among 
      adolescents. RESULTS: Results show that the school dropout rate was highest among 
      married girls aged 15-19 years (84%), followed by unmarried girls (46%), and boys 
      (38%) of the same age group. The odds of school dropout among adolescents 
      decreased with an increase in household wealth status. School dropout was 
      significantly less likely among adolescents whose mothers were educated as 
      compared to mothers who had no education. Younger boys [AOR: 6.67; CI: 4.83-9.23] 
      and girls [AOR: 2.56; CI: 1.79-3.84] who engaged in paid work were 6.67 times and 
      2.56 times more likely to drop out of school than those who were not. The 
      likelihood of school dropout was 3.14 times more likely among younger boys [AOR: 
      3.14; CI: 2.26-4.35], and it was 89% more likely among older boys [AOR: 1.89; CI: 
      1.55-2.30] who consumed any substances as compared to those who did not consume 
      any substances. Both younger [AOR: 2.05; CI: 1.37-3.05] and older girls [AOR: 
      1.30; CI: 1.05-1.62] who acknowledged at least one form of discriminatory 
      practice by parents were more likely to drop out of school than their 
      counterparts. Lack of interest in studies/education not necessary (43%) was the 
      predominant reason among younger boys for school dropout, followed by family 
      reasons (23%) and paid work (21%). CONCLUSIONS: Dropout was prevalent among lower 
      social and economic strata. Mother's education, parental interaction, 
      participation in sports and having role models reduce school dropout. Conversely, 
      factors such as being engaged in paid work, substance abuse among boys, and 
      gender discriminatory practices towards girls, are risk factors for dropout among 
      adolescents. Lack of interest in studies and familial reasons also increase 
      dropout. There is a need to improve the socio-economic status, delay the marital 
      age of girls, and enhance the government incentives for education, give rightful 
      work to girls after schooling, and provide awareness.
CI  - Copyright: (c) 2023 Kumar et al. This is an open access article distributed under 
      the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted 
      use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author 
      and source are credited.
FAU - Kumar, Pradeep
AU  - Kumar P
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-4259-820X
AD  - Research & Data Analysis, Population Council, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, 
      India.
FAU - Patel, Sangram Kishor
AU  - Patel SK
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-0689-6704
AD  - Population Council, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India.
FAU - Debbarma, Solomon
AU  - Debbarma S
AD  - Magic Bus India Foundation, Hill Side Tuikhuahtlang, Aizawl, Mizoram.
FAU - Saggurti, Niranjan
AU  - Saggurti N
AD  - Population Council, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20230302
PL  - United States
TA  - PLoS One
JT  - PloS one
JID - 101285081
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Male
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - *Student Dropouts
MH  - Longitudinal Studies
MH  - Educational Status
MH  - India
MH  - Risk Factors
PMC - PMC9980764
COIS- The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
EDAT- 2023/03/03 06:00
MHDA- 2023/03/07 06:00
PMCR- 2023/03/02
CRDT- 2023/03/02 13:33
PHST- 2022/05/12 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2023/02/15 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2023/03/02 13:33 [entrez]
PHST- 2023/03/03 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2023/03/07 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2023/03/02 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - PONE-D-22-13862 [pii]
AID - 10.1371/journal.pone.0282468 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - PLoS One. 2023 Mar 2;18(3):e0282468. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282468. 
      eCollection 2023.