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that the children themselves decide not to go to school and that there was noth~ng that
parents could do about it Most of the respondents to the SlNctured questlonnalre
(1501160, 93 8%) felt that poor performance In school was the mcst common cause for
dropout. Many (80.6%) also felt that poverty was an important cause for school
dropout About 5.0% thought that girls do not attend school after menarche. Wh~le
18 7% felt that hawng to go to work caused girls to dropout of school, only 7.5% felt
that it did so in boys
The following are some of the statements made in this regad:.
1. "My son refused to go to school after VII standard. He said 'I cannot read any
more. I am going to earn'. He is now weaving. His brother who is in the VII
standard now is also threatening to stop next year. He wants to go to Bombay
and earn" (A 37 year old woman In a group discussion).
2. "My son also refused to go to school. I don't know why. I dragged him to the
school but he ran back. I took a stick and beat him till blood stasted coming
out of his nose. He said you can beat me to death but I will not go. What can
you do?" (A 40 year old man In a group d~scussion) . A few others said that they
also had sim~lar experiences
3. "1 could not afford to send my daughter to school after the Vlll Standard.
Moreover, she had attained menarche and I thought she could stay in the
house and help her mother" (A 50 year old man in an ~n-depth ~nte~ew)
4. "My daughter did not go to school after the Ill standard. We put her in school
only at the age of 9 along with her younger brother wha was 5 years old. We
did not put her in school earlier because she had to look afler her younger
brother. She was 12 years old when she was in the Ill standard and quite
Brown up. She felt shy and just refused to go to school" (A 36 year old woman
In an In-depth internew)