Rising School Dropouts: The Plight of Estate Children in Sri Lanka

Continued from last Friday

By Himani Vithanage

Moreover, gender-wise, more boys (than girls) drop out, mainly because of their higher engagement levels in economic activities.

Financial difficulties, engagement in economic activities, changes in attitudes and behaviours of children during the prolonged school closure, the shift in students’ priorities and interests away from education mainly towards earning, non-supportive parents, and low academic performance are several reasons identified to have worsened the issue of school dropouts in the estate sector ever since the outbreak of the pandemic. Although dropping out is generally an issue most prevalent among students in higher grades, currently, students in lower grades have also become vulnerable to dropping out.

Way Forward

Accordingly, there is a rise in the number of children dropping out of school in estate regions. The main reason for this is the worsened financial difficulties suffered by these estate children after the pandemic, along with the ongoing economic crisis in the country, which has led them to engage in economic activities to earn income so that they can afford their basic needs. Thus, introducing special programmes to increase the income sources of adults in deprived regions would be beneficial in discouraging their children from engaging in economic activities while encouraging them to attend school.

Additionally, facilitating the continuation of the school meal programme (free meal), by prioritising the highly deprived children in plantation communities, would be another possible solution to reduce child labour. Consequently, it will help reduce school dropouts in the estate sector since many estate children who struggle to afford a meal are influenced to engage in economic activities to earn income. Furthermore, implementing special ‘catch-up programmes’ in estate regions for students who could not attend online classes during school closures would help recover the lost learning of these students and reduce the risk of them dropping out of school.

Link to original blog:

https://www.ips.lk/talkingeconomics/2022/11/17/rising-school-dropouts-the-plight-of-estate-children-in-sri-lanka/

Himani Vithanage is a Research Assistant working on health, education and labour policy at IPS. She was the recipient of IPS’ Saman Kelegama Memorial Research Grant for 2021. This blog is based on her research study analysing the issue of school dropouts in the estate sector of Sri Lanka. She holds a BA in Economics from the University of Colombo, and a BSc in Economics and Finance from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).