INTRODUCTION - DEFINITION OF TERMS
School dropout
• According to answers.com (© 2010 Write Brothers Inc.)
drop·out (drŏp'out')
– One who quits school
– One who has withdrawn from a given social group or environment.
• According to http://www.yourdictionary.com
– dropout: person who leaves a program, esp. school, before completion; one who lives by norms alien to society.
• Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010
– "one who drops out; specif., a person who withdraws from school, esp. high school, before graduating."
– failing student, truant, quitter, maverick; see failure 2, hippie, nonconformist, quitter.
• According to the U.S Govt:
– the term common school dropout includes all students who leave school for reasons other than a lawfully imposed expulsion, including the period of time a student is subject to a lawfully imposed suspension.
Menace
• According to thefreedictionary.com
– A possible danger, a threat
– Something that threatens to cause evil , harm, injury, etc
INTRODUCTION – DROPOUT RATES
• Each year, hundreds of thousands of young adults leave school without successfully completing a high school programme. As these numbers accumulate year by year, they mount into the millions. “In October 1998, there were 3.9 million 16 – 24 year olds who were not enrolled in a high school programme, and had not completed high school” – a figure that represents 11.8% of the total population in this age group (Dropout rates in the United States: 1998)
• In 2008, over 8 million Nigerian children are out of school
WHY DISCUSS THIS TOPIC?
• Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another. [G. K. Chesterson]
• Instruction ends in the school-room, but education ends only with life. [Frederick W. Robertson]
• Education make a people easy to lead, but difficult to drive: easy to govern, but impossible to enslave. [Peter Brougham]
EARLY SYMPTOMS OF SCHOOL DROPOUT
• Absebteeism - Absenteeism is major and continuous administrative problem among secondary school students in developing countries. Since the problem is to 70% student home based, there is need for the student/parent to help identify and proffer solutions to this quality disturbing problems that could lead to students’ dropout from school.
• Lateness - Lateness is common among female students than male students. This is as a result of their involvement in domestic activities by their parents. Distance to school, school discipline, family background and school location are among causes of lateness among secondary school students (Emore 2005).
WHY DO STUDENTS DROPOUT OF SCHOOL? (I)
- What people say –
1. Student retention
2. Poverty
3. Ethnicity and changing family structures
4. Limited English language proficiency
5. Geographic location and movement within the country
6. Teenage sex and Pregnancy
7. Peer pressure and Drugs
8. Violence and Crime
Prov 16:25 “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
WHY DO STUDENTS DROPOUT OF SCHOOL? (II)
- What dropouts say –
• School-related
– Did not like school
– Could not get along with teachers
– Could not get along with students
– Was suspended too often
– Did not feel safe at school
– Was expelled
– Felt I didn’t belong
– Could not keep up with school work
– Was failing at school
– Changed school; didn’t like the new one
• Job-related
– Couldn’t work and go to school at the same time
– Had to get a job
– Found a job
• Family related
– Had to support family
– Wanted to have family
– Got pregnant
– Became parent
– Got married
– Had to care for family member
• Others
– Wanted to travel
– Friends droppedout
The way out
- Biblical perspective -
3 Ds to academic excellence
Diligence
Discipline
Determination
DILIGENCE - Persistent effort: persistent and hard-working effort in doing something
1. The Story of Elijah and Elisha - 2 Kings 2:1-15
– Elisha accompanies Elijah from Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho to the Jordan River. At each place the sons of the prophets say to Elisha, “Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from over you today?” So he answered, “Yes, I know; keep silent!” 2 Kings 2:3, 5. At each place, Elijah says to Elisha, “Stay here, please, for the LORD has sent me on to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” 2 Kings 2:4, 6.
• Hebrews 11:6, Prov. 10:5, Prov 13:4, Prov 18:9
• 2 Tim 2:15 – “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
• Eccl. 9:10 – “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might…
2. The Story of Elisha and King Joash of Israel - 2 Kings 13:14-20
– First, King Joash is to shoot his arrows out the window eastward, toward Israelite cities that had been conquered by the Syrians.
– Second, King Joash was to strike the ground with the arrows he held in his hand.
• 1 Corint 9:24 – “Know ye not that they which run in a race
run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye
may obtain.”
• Luke 2:52, Luke 16:10, Acts 20:35, Collos 3:23
DISCIPLINE - calm controlled behavior: the ability to behave in a controlled and calm way even in a difficult or stressful situation
• Samuel showed discipline despite the fact that he did not have the best of teachers.
– 1 Sam 2:12 – “Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.
– 1 Sam 3:6 – “And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.”
– 1 Sam 3:16 – “Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.”
Prov 3:11-12 (NIV) My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves…”
DISCIPLINE - calm controlled behavior: the ability to behave in a controlled and calm way even in a difficult or stressful situation
• Samuel showed discipline despite the fact that he did not have the best of teachers.
– 1 Sam 2:12 – “Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.
– 1 Sam 3:6 – “And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.”
– 1 Sam 3:16 – “Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.”
– Prov 3:11-12 (NIV) My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves…”
• Joseph showed discipline in the house of his master, Potiphar.
– Gen. 39:4-10 – “10And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
Quotes:
"The first and best victory is to conquer self.“ [Plato, Greek Philosopher]
"Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There's plenty of movement, but you never know if it's going to be forward, backwards, or sideways.“ [H. Jackson Brown, Jr., Author]
Determination - firmness of purpose: firmness of purpose, will, or intention
• Jacob had a goal; he was determined to achieve it, and he did.
– Gen. 29:10 “And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his …”
– Gen. 29:18-28 - “And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter…”
Quotes:
A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work. [Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of States]
• God promised to bless Jacob, yet he had to show determination to bring those blessings to pass
– Gen. 28:11-15 – “…for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
– Gen. 32:24-29 – “…and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day… And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me… Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
Quote:
“An invincible determination can accomplish almost anything and in this lies the great distinction between great men and little men.” [Thomas Fuller, English clergyman]
CONCLUSION
• Education is not the key to success (Prov 18:16 – “A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.”)
• Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be learned; and however early a man's training begins, it is probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly. [Thomas H. Huxley]
• James 1:5 – “If any of you lack wisdom…”
• Psalms 84:11-12 – “…no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”
Thank you.
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This paper was presented by Lanre Sonubi at the formal launching of Winners Baptist Church Education Foundation on Sunday, September 4,2011
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