Even as the UAE puts impressive and effective measures in place in education to take its knowledge-based economy to higher levels, there is an occurrence that seems to be slowing down the pace — UAE males at the senior secondary level choosing to drop out from school.
The basic issue of students dropping out of school is a worldwide phenomenon. In every country, it occurs due to various socio-cultural and economic factors and has an adverse impact.
Dropouts are defined as students who have left school for disciplinary reasons, poor academic performance, exceeding number of absences, exceeding acceptable levels of retention, disengagement and lack of motivation and other individual reasons.
The reasons for this dropout phenomenon are similar all over the world — poor socioeconomic status, family issues, unpleasant school experiences that result in low self-esteem and underperformance.
According to the Ras Al Khaimah-based Shaikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research, in the UAE, previous to their study, there was only one study that has closely examined dropout patterns and this was conducted by Dr Zureik in 2005. It examined 416 students from seven boys’ and seven girls’ schools in the emirate of Sharjah. Zureik (2005) found that close to 35 per cent of males dropped out between grades 10 and 12 compared to 25 per cent of females.
It said that boys sometimes dropped out of school due to family circumstances related to the father being ill or absent, which forced them to turn providers for the family. For girls, marriage was found to be the main reason to leave school early.
Until now, there had been no systematic study on this subject and therefore, this study is important as it consolidates vital facts on this trend and also points out remedial measures.
Headed Dr Natasha Ridge, Executive Director of the Shaikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research, the study was assisted by research associates Samar Farah and Soha Shami.
Farah, the non-resident research associate from the foundation who collaborated on this research, spoke to Gulf News Education about the intent, scope and purpose of the study.
Over what period was the study conducted and in what regions of UAE?
It is difficult to quantify the amount of time spent working on it as we did not keep track of the number of hours we put into it. It was the main project of both the project investigator and research associate over an year and a half. In addition, three research assistants supported us with the data collection and data entry. While we did not notice any statistically significant differences between men who resided in urban versus rural areas, it is worth noting that the dropout rates were significantly higher in the Northern Emirates as compared to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
These inter-Emirate differences in the incidence of dropout may indicate differences in the quality of schools as well as socioeconomic conditions, all of which may influence the decisions of boys regarding their futures.
What was the rationale for this study?
This study is a further exploration of the dissertation research of Dr. Natasha Ridge, the lead author of the study, who was comparing the quality of public secondary schools in the UAE. In her earlier research, Dr. Ridge observed that there was a higher dropout rate among boys than girls and that the quality of boys’ schools was overall significantly worse than that of girls.
This led to an interest in conducting a more in-depth study to understand why some boys drop out of school. Also, as there was very little research conducted on this topic. We felt that this study could provide a better understanding of what actually happens on the ground, rather than attribute it to common notions of “boys drop out because they can easily join the policy or army.”
Does this study offer a remedial recourse to turn around this pattern among UAE males or it is a purely academic exercise?
The purpose of research that we conduct at the Al Qasimi Foundation is twofold. The first is to contribute to academic research in the UAE, particularly on issues that are not well understood or researched, and the second is to make the research accessible in order to help in guiding policymaking on these issues. As we find in the study, although dropping out of secondary school is a global phenomenon the reasons vary depending on the context. Therefore, the purpose of our study is to produce local evidence-based research that can be used by educators and policymakers who choose to address the issue.
What do the reasons for dropout indicate?
Overall, research shows that regardless of where in the world a student drops out, there are a range of (family, school, and/or individual) factors that influence that decision rather than there being just one cause. The statement above is based on our literature review and is not reflective of our findings. In fact, we found that in high-income countries such as the Gulf, the findings were more similar to those in the West. Moreover, more recent research from the UK has found that although school factors are the main contributors to school dropout, family factors can be just as important in determining a student’s decision to drop out of school.
In the UAE, based on one earlier study conducted by Dr Zureik, it has been established that the dropout rate among secondary school males is about 35 per cent. Since it was deduced from a relatively small sample group, is this a reliable assessment? Also, how does a high rate of dropout among males affect a country’s overall performance?
Measuring dropout rates is a difficult task, one that cannot be easily compared across contexts unless it is measured in the same way. While Zureik found the rate to be 35%, other researchers have found it to be somewhat lower in other Emirates and school grades.
Regardless of the exact number, what all the research points to is that there is definitely a high dropout rate in the UAE that is no doubt having some impact the country’s effort to develop a knowledge economy.
At the moment, only approximately 30 per cent of students attending higher education are males and since the labour market participation among Emirati women is still relatively low, the majority of the responsibility for the provision for families falls on the shoulders of the males. Therefore, it is important that the country invests in them by improving the quality of their schools and promoting higher education to help them in developing the knowledge, skills, and competencies that are required to succeed in a knowledge economy.
One of the issues about the research seems the sample size of the non-drop-outs (347) vs. the sample size of the drop outs (149). Does the percentage findings on such sample sizes reflect the occurrence across the country?
No research in the social sciences can be conducted without limitations. Unfortunately, due to the difficulty of tracking down dropouts, a problem researchers face across the world, it was not possible for us to achieve the sample size that we had originally hoped to have. This was made more difficult by the relative hesitation and reluctance of individuals to participate in or support research in the region, particularly when on a sensitive topic such as dropping out of school.
However, despite these limitations, the size of both samples is large enough to produce statistically valid and robust conclusions that are authentic. It would not be possible, however, to make any generalisations about the occurrence of the phenomenon across the country as the dropout sample was restricted to two Emirates (Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah). It can be reasonably assumed, based on Ministry of Education data and other studies that the highest dropout rates in the country would be in the Northern Emirates, while the lowest would be in Abu Dhabi.
Has this study been widely publicised to help understand the dropout phenomenon in UAE government schools?
The findings of the study have been presented in a number of meetings with local education authorities and stakeholders as well as at regional and international conferences, including the Gulf Comparative Education Society conference in Sultan Qaboos University in Oman and the Comparative and International Education Society Conference in Puerto Rico last year. We have also made the publication available both in English and Arabic to make it accessible to as many people as possible in the region and beyond.
