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Booklet : Analysis of the causes for school dropout
Recreating career prospects for young people throughout training methodological
approaches to the Pedagogie de chantier (learning by doing)
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be
made of the information contained therein

Preamble
This booklet is an overview of 1st intellectual output of our project : Analysis of the causes for school
dropout, risk groups and inventory of existing measures in the fight against early school leaving
For detailed information you can acces the overall report on our website http://pedachantier.eu,
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I. Analysis of the causes for school dropout, risk groups and inventory of
existing me asures in the fight against early school leaving
L’objectif
From the inventory of school dropout causes from partner countries (census of elements regarding
legislatives, institutional, organizational, pedagogical contexts at the national, regional and local level),
we carried out an overall assessment which identifies and diagnoses the causes of early school leaving.
It also enables to grasp all the diversity, the complexity of situations linked to this phenomenon, the
description of groups at risk as well as the identification of existing systems fighting against school
dropout.
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Factors of school dropout
A significant part of the overall report deals with the reasons of school dropout.
The reasons why young people leave school early depend a lot on the individual. Nevertheless, we can
identify some trends. Generally, we can note that there are multifactorial reasons: in each individual
case, a number of various factors operate at the same time. The reasons of school dropout can be
characterized, in accordance with national reports, through the following determinants:
A) Factors internal to the educational system.
Organizational and structural factors
Pedagogical factors linked to interactions and relationships between the teachers and
the students.
B) Factors external to the educational system
Familial and social factors
Early school leavers intern factors
C) Other factors influencing school dropout
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The reports from different partners also propose reasons for school dropout which cannot be classified
in the previous categories:
Economic factors
Geographic factors
Legislative and politic factors
The various factors of school dropping out represent an ensemble illustrated by the following chart 1 :
1 In French, no English version available
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This schema enables to illustrate the complexity and
the plurality of the factors leading to school dropping
out. The distinction between moments (“Temps”) 1, 2
and 3 corresponds to the apparition in a row of many
factors, external to the educational system (in black in
the chart) or internal to the educational system (n
white in the chart). Remark: The choice of three
moments is arbitrary, we could consider one, two or
more than three. The rotation of the circles between
each other, let you visualize the multiplicity of
combinations and interactions between these factors.
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School dropout seen as a process
In order to better understand early school leaving, we have to consider it not as an isolated act, but as
a process including several successive steps.
Considering school dropout as a process allows a
better understanding of a student’s characteristics,
the reasons of school dropping out, but firstly, the
understanding of the steps before the act in itself which is
very important in preventing. This perception of school
dropping out allows a preventing work with risks of school dropout
further
upstream from the act itself.
The overall process can be represented with a funnel which means that
go through the following stages:
fewer students
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Impacts of School dropout
The school dropout has some consequences in different areas. The impacts are present at the level of
the youngster himself, their family, but also at the regional level, even the society level.
Personal (psychological)
The impacts of school dropout are in the first place affecting the young himself. His insertion on the job
market is considerably limited. The youngster who successfully graduated is more likely to find a job
than the young without any diploma.
The perspective of a future quality of living is declining for him and the risk of a social exclusion as well
as the threat of the poverty increase.
If the young gave up on school early because of a failure of learning, a sense of failure, disappointment,
is occurring. The motivation to overcome difficulties related to unemployment and to a low
educational background is declining. There is a risk that the young adapt himself and “put himself
into the hand of destiny”, the confidence on their own future weakens.
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A young who left school early has a lack of knowledge and mandatory competences. The experience
highlights that this lack tends to last a lifetime.
There is a big probability that he just gets low-paid job on the labour market, which don’t ensure the
guarantee to a social security or an overall health insurance. The youngster without corresponding
qualification is fated to spend his whole life with a tough quality of living, whose aim would be the only
effort of survival with many negatives phenomenon (lifetime, health, addictions, etc.).
Societal
Unemployment is a negative societal element, mostly the long-term unemployment. It is highly likely
that the young people without any background takes a big part in the increase of the unemployment
rate. Another negative impact is the non-exploitation of the potential of these youngsters. Young
people without diploma have a lot of positive characteristics, which have to be supported, to make
them contributing to the society. Through the prism of the non-sufficient educational background,
their social insertion is tough and even their knowledge and competences which are their strongest
assets are devastated.
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Young people without any training and then without an adequate professional and social insertion are
threatened in a strong way to associate to different anti-societal and even criminal activities. This leads
to delinquency and other non-expected societal phenomenon.
In a society based on knowledge, the improvement of the competitiveness in a global context, with the
creation of new technologies and the acquisition of new approaches of human resources management,
the people who miss even a basic qualification are to be excluded from the labour market, whose
requirements increase.
Moreover, globalization causes the transfer of activities which require a lower educational background
to the countries where wages are lower. This is the reason why the improvement of a qualified
population becomes important to guarantee a corresponding quality of living to every citizen, and
continue in the current economic development.
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Economic
For the individual, the school dropout goes with a lower opportunity of having the income
corresponding to the work and if he finds a job, his income is lower than other graduated people. Low
income or insufficient income lead to a degradation of life quality and limits this individual.
On the society side, school dropout increases the requirement in additional cost (unemployment
indemnity, eventually about school reinsertion/ second chance/ or the indemnities offered to these
people as part of a network (help in the shortage situation, for example).
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Synthesis of other results and information of the global report
The global report suggests a lot of precious and detailed information taken from the national reports
from the project partners.
Educational obligation
Compulsory education in every partner country of the project has its historical, cultural and political
links, which are unique. What unifies every country is the fact that compulsory education is defined as
an obligation given by the legislation to parents or any other person representing the child.
Compulsory education is not defined in a uniform way in every country:
12 years (from 6 to 18 years old) in Belgium, in two parts- a phase of 10 years full-time (from 6
to 16 years old) and a phase of 2 years (from 16 to 18 years old) part-time;
10 years (from 6 to 16 years old) in France, Italy, Slovakia.
9 years (from 6 to 15 years old) in Greece.
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To compare every country from European Union, the dispersion of compulsory education duration is
the same. The longest time is 12 years and the shortest 9 years.
School systems
These systems are in different partner countries. This difference is mostly concerning the
denominations and partly also the duration of different steps (parts) of the school system. School
denominations are also different.
What unifies the partners is that every school system of the country taking part in the project, follow
the international classification of formation at 7 levels, created by UNESCO in 1997, ISCED-International
Standard Classification of Education- in a tight range ISCED 0- non formal education until ISCED6-
second degree of tertiary education. The classification in itself allows a different length of the steps
(levels) of training. Linking to this classification, the problematic of school dropout regards mostly the
level ISCED 3 (secondary higher education, eventually professional training), eventually both the period
between finished compulsory education and the end of the training at ISCED3 level.
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The competences to create, control and finance schools are also composed in a different way. From
this difference also come the different constructions and competences of important actors in the field
of teaching. Amongst all the main actors there are at the national level this is the ministries and at the
regional level, this is the local or regional bodies of various form and entities which are irreplaceable.
The regional composition as well as regional entities of State, public or local administration are very
specific to each country. The important actors in the field of teaching and preventing from school
dropout are schools themselves.
School dropout
The initial postulate of the elaboration of national reports and of the overall report considered school
dropout was a young population who did not finish their school cursus, or leaving school early. We can
define this group as young people who finished school without reaching the ISCED3 level.
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The aim of the project Pedagogie de chantier (learning by doing)2 is to target the youngsters of 16 to
24 years old. National reports produced by the partners demonstrate that from the point of view of the
prevention, normally, school dropping out is studied in a much wider dimension: we also have to
consider the case of young not reaching the ISCED2 level of education, which is necessary to start the
ISCED3 level of education. Prevention of school dropout seems easier and more efficient during the
school time, which is characterized by two aims: answering to school compulsory (finishing the years of
schooling) and finishing the ISCED 3 level.
In a global way, we still note some gaps in the practical perception of school dropout according to
different partner countries and their educational system.
2 T.N. “Pedagogie de chantier”: a French appellation that we translated by an “learning by doing”. Its goal
consists in getting a group of individuals to work collectively for general interest. Individuals improve themselves
throughout territory development
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Statistical data about school dropping out
In the national reports and also in the overall report about prevention of school dropout, we have been
working with two groups of statistical data.
1. The first group represents national data of students who did not finish school either before the
educational compulsory either because they did not meet the requirements to get a diploma of
ISCED3 level. The main record is held by different schools. This record and the publication of
statistical data incorporated are handled in every country.
2. A second group presents data counted by Eurostat- meaning the percentage of those who did
not finish a training among the global youth population. It is a selective listing. These European
data enable comparisons between different countries.
The released data are identified thanks to two different ways. This way of census concerns the
situation ex-post –meaning after school dropout. We can note that both methods of census statistical
data are from a secondary prevention. From the point of view of prevention, it is more important to
detect the symptoms from potential situations of dropping out before really giving up. This type of
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ecord can just be held by different schools or parents. None of the project partner suggested
information of this type, we suppose that these data are not released and certainly need a certain level
of intimacy. Regarding the efficiency measure of prevention from early school dropout, theoretically, it
would be necessary to follow the number of students threatened by giving up and the number of those
who have not left school thanks to preventing measures.
Suggestions
The main challenge of the project Pedagogie de chantier (learning by doing) is the priority defined by
the European Commission to reduce the school drop-out rate to less than 10% within 2020, aim
declined by the different member state.
The prevention against school dropping out takes an important place in order to respond to national
targets. In this prevention, every national and regional actor has a priceless place: originally these are
the schools and educational institutions who plays a key role.
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The other educational organizations, or training or socio-professional insertion organization can bring a
support to these actors. This is the willing of the partners of the current project. This is why the
knowledge of both previous reports is important to understand the issues facing the school
stakeholders
The Educational working approach- Pedagogie de chantier (learning by doing), declined in this project
targets firstly young school leavers, underprivileged younth on the job market who did not reach the
initial educational level.
When you follow the Pedagogie de chantier (learning by doing) project, please share the following
information and knowledge:
The reasons for school drop-out, their interactions and the perception of it as a process with
successive steps.
The impacts of school dropout
The differences, transnational and regional features
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Common characteristics and different educational systems and the legislation concerning
school compulsory in different countries.
Links between the current situation (see statistical data) and the target of the European Union
to reduce school dropout within 2020.
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