FIJI SCHOOLLEAVING

CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION

ENGLISHPROJECT2012

Name: Alena Vosararawa

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Form: 501

Teacher’s name: Mrs Nayagodamu

SCHOOLDROPOUTS

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FIJI SCHOOL LEAVING CERTIFICATE : 2012

ENGLISH PROJECT CAPTURE SHEET

LATTER-DAY SAINTS CHURCH COLLEGE

Name of Student: Alena Vosararawa Form: 501

Topic: School Dropouts

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SECTION GUIDELINE TOTAL MARKSA. PRESENTATION

Format 2 marksStyle 2 marksReference 2 marks

B. CONTENT 10 marksC. LANGUAGE 4 marks

GENERAL COMMENTS

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Teacher’s Signature: _____________________

Principle’s Signature: ______________________Date: ___________________

School Stamp:

AIM

To research and find out about school dropouts in my village (Vuci,Tokatoka,Tailevu).Why is it happening and what can I do

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to help those students who wants to drop out of school and also the difficulties and challenges they face.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTI Alena Vosararawa would like to thank the following people who havecontribute to my project while trying my best to complete this project: My Parents, Merewalesi Dakunimata, Samuela Ravula and I know without the contribute of this good people it would be hard forme to accomplish this project and I know my heavenly father will always love me and that is why he has provide this people to come and help me out accomplish this computer project.

i)

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METHODOLOGY

The following method was used to collect information:

PRIMARY METHOD

i) Questionnaires-giving it to my friends in the village who have drop out of my school.

ii) Interviewing

SECONDARY METHOD

i) Library-checking out books concerning this project.

ii) Internet-this was very helpful as it answer most of thesub-topics that I had.

i)

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DECLARATION

I, Merewalesi L Dakunimata, do hereby declare that this project was of my own piece of work and idea and was not copy from someone else. Any similarity to any other project is merely a coincidence.

_______________ ___________________________

Date Signature

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ContentsAIM..............................................................4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..................................................5METHODOLOGY......................................................6

DECLARATION......................................................7TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................8

1.0 INTRODUCTION................................................91.1 BAD ENVIROMENT..............................................10

1.2 PEER PRESSURE...............................................111.3 FINANCIAL PROBLEM..........................................12

RESULTS AND FINDINGS.........................................13-16CONCLUSION......................................................17

RECOMMENDATION..................................................18REFERENCE.......................................................19

APPENDIX........................................................20

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1.0 INTRODUCTIONSchool Dropout is when a student leaves school or university before finishing his or her studies and this is the most common issue affecting students today especially in the rural areas and are really becoming are major head-ache for schools and the Ministry. Whether unwillingly or willingly these school leavers leave a mark on our society

There are a lot of reasons why a student leave school, it may be that parents cannot afford school fees, neglecting their role to support their kid`s education, they earn an average income but is diverted to other obligations rather than education ,a few students can make it up but traditional obligations and donations to churches frequently take priority over meeting the costs of education ,the case of teenage pregnancies ,financial constraints ,peer pressure, the fear of sitting external exams, those who fail exams neverreturn to school ,poverty and a severe lack of extracurricularactivities away from classrooms.

But there is always out of this issue and that is to stand up and be a leader and not always be a follower, following peers around wherever one goes, concentrate on what is on hand and not to be distracted as it is in the best interest to handle this problem as soon as possible.

The failure of students to find positive social relationships in schools and the lack of a climate of caring and support also appear to be related to increased rates of dropping out. Positive relationships between teachers and students and amongstudents and a climate of shared purpose and concern have beencited as key elements in schools that hold students until graduation

In addition to issues of access to academic success and socialacceptance within schools, in some contexts there is an issue of the availability of schooling at all. This is primarily an

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issue in areas of the world where secondary schooling is not widely available. Although this situation tends to be more prevalent in the developing world, there are areas within developed countries, such as sparsely populated or geographically isolated areas, where access to schooling is not readily available. Completing high school in such circumstances often takes students far from home and from family and community support and so makes dropping out more likely.

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1.1 BAD ENVIROMENT

Bad Environment means the environment that contributes to the student`s dropouts. The kind of environment that makes the students in that area feels that, that is how students should end up in the future and that it is better for students to drop out now than continuing their education thinking that it won`t be beneficial to continue their education.

Factors outside of schools have also been considered for theirimpact on dropping out. Examinations of these outside factors typically concern the degree to which they are supportive of schooling or the degree to which schooling is perceived as relevant to the current or future lives of students. In both cases external factors can be the natural consequence of broader social forces or the result of deliberate educational policies.

Support for schooling in general or for the continued enrollment of students through graduation can vary from community to community and society to society. For example, inFiji the long-held view that schooling is essential for a democratic society was reinforced in the late twentieth century by the notion that schooling is essential to meeting the increasing technical requirements of the Fijian economy. These ideologies of support for schooling are reflected in specific policies, such as educational requirements for jobs, and in media campaigns emphasizing the importance of staying in school.

Efforts to improve social relationships and create a shared climate of concern for students have included mentoring programs linking adults and students, house plans in large

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schools to create smaller environments in which a limited number of students and teachers work on the entire academic program, and the use of older students as peer mentors for younger students.The relevance of schooling and school completion as perceived by students also has an impact on dropping out. When conditions outside of school indicate to students that school completion is important for their currentand future success, students are more likely to remain in school.

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1.2 PEER PRESSURE

Peer pressure is the influence exerted by a peer group(friends)especially close friends and acquaintances, encouraging individuals to change their attitudes, values, or behaviours in order to conform to group norms. One of problems that had been found out is that a lot of adolescentsfrom the village are dropping out of school because of peer pressure, being somehow persuaded to follow peers wherever theleader decide. The successful formation and navigation of interpersonal relationships with peers is a process central toadolescent development in all cultures. Because adolescents spend a large amount of their time with peers, it is not surprising that they play a highly influential role in adolescents' lives. The credibility, authority, power, and influence of peers is greater during adolescence than at any other time in life.

Adolescents choose friends who have characteristics or talentsthat they admire, which motivates them to achieve and act as their friends act. Friends encourage adolescents to study hardat school and can also help them think more creatively. Although peers are very important for adolescents during this developmental stage, parents also play an influential role in adolescents' lives.

Normal adolescent development in Fiji cultures involves a gradual movement from the importance of relationships with family towards those with peers for socialization, self-definition, friendship, and support. Adolescent peer groups function more autonomously than children's peer groups, with less guidance or control provided by adults. Crowds help adolescents to decide with whom to associate. Through these crowds and cliques, adolescents demonstrate their identity to

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others and to themselves. The threat of not being accepted by their peers and the strain of belonging to two cultures can beespecially difficult. These various peer associations exert increasing pressure on the adolescent to adopt certain behaviors and attitudes—pressure to conform. In rural areas, as the amount of time spent with peers increases, so does the influence and support they provide. Adolescents whose friends and parents support academic achievement perform better than adolescents who receive support from only one, or neither. Hence, both parents and friends are important for adolescents'development. Moreover, adolescents are less influenced by friends when they have close and involving relationships with their parents.

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1.3 FINANCIAL PROBLEM

Financial Problems or difficulties arise from students who can`t afford to pay for their fees and other expenses in primary, secondary and tertiary education.

Education is usually one of the last budget areas to be cut, but most districts today are suffering declines in both state and local funding. At the same time, many are also facing dramatic increases in costs ranging from utilities to pension funds. With decreasing revenues and rising costs, school districts are forced to make tough decisions if they are to balance their budgets and still meet the needs of their students. Some districts are finding ways to grapple with rising costs and limit the impact on students—for the time being. But what will be the long-term impact of this economic crisis on our next generation of students?

When parents could not afford to pay for the school fees, the next solution that comes to mind is to let children drop out from school as soon as possible and to help parents in everyday tasks.

A crisis in higher education has been brewing for years. With some variation in local circumstances, they are of increasing concern around the world as the educational requirements for full participation in modern societies continue to increase. Dropout rates have been examined from several perspectives. Event dropout rates measure the proportion of students who drop out of school in a single year without completing a certain level of schooling. Status dropout rates measure the proportion of the entire population of a given age who have not completed a certain level of schooling and are not currently enrolled. Cohort dropout rates measure dropping out among a single group or cohort of students over a given period. High school completion rates measure the proportion of

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an entire population of a given age who have left high school and earned a high school diploma or its equivalent.

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RESULTS AND FINDINGS

4 Students who suffers from this issue-

Financial Problems

64%

3 Students who suffers from this issue-Peer Pressure

25%

7 Students who suffer from this issue-Bad

Enviroment11%

School Dropouts

Discussion

In my village 14 students had drop out of secondary and primary education .Thus, four students did not had enough money to pay their fees, thus the reason their drop out. Threestudents had friends who influence them a lot. Seven students cannot do well because of the environment they had, like helping the rest of the villagers do their work and joining them with drinking beer, smoking and was caught sniffing glue.

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3 students faced poverty

43%

4 students had follow adults

who are drinking and

smoking57%

Bad Enviroment

Discussion

The above graph coloured red shows that three out of the sevenstudents faced poverty and the graph coloured blue shows that four out of seven students continually follows the dropouts inthe village.

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2 students follow their peers to drop out of school

67%

1 student feared the thought of sitting the external exams33%

Peer Pressure

Discussion

The above graph shows that two students follow their friends, thus the reason for dropping out of school and one student washopeless and the fear of sitting the exams stopped her to continue her education.

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2 student cant afford to pay the

school fees50%

2 student`s parents earn an average income but is burdened by traditional obligations

50%

Financial Problems

Discussion

The above graph shows that two out of the four students cannotafford to pay their school fees and the other two`s parents are under traditional obligations in the village.

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CONCLUSION

From doing this project I had learned other issues concerning this topic and ways we can help others who had already suffer and is suffering from this issue. Understanding their problemswill help ease the burdens and try to convince them that education is the only way to get out of the poverty circle

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RECOMMENDATION

The following recommendation would help prevent or at least decrease the issue of School Dropouts:

Understand and try to help and not say bad things to the victim.

Go for a scholarship if the parents are really poor. Stand up for themselves and be a leader and not always be

a follower Concentrate on what is on hand and not to be distracted.

Government Help :

Providing free education to primary school students.

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REFERENCE www.wiki.com www.google.com www.encyclopedia.com www.fijitimes.fj.com

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APPENDIX1. What does School Dropout means to you?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What is the most important issue or problem that leads to School Dropout?______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. How can prevent this issue?_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What effect does this have on other students?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. What should other people do to help?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. What can the Ministry of Education do to help the students who are facing this problem?_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. Do you have any friend that had drop out of school?Yes

No

8. If your answer is yes, what are some of the things you can do to help him or her?_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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