Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad: 333 Middle School Students Drop Out During 1400-1401 Academic Year

According to Hrana news agency, citing Tasnim, school dropout is one of the major problems in education and society that wastes significant resources, funds, and potential human and economic talents every year, leaving irreparable impacts on individuals and society.

In Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, particularly in deprived areas of the province, many students refrain from continuing their education every year due to problems such as lack of facilities, financial poverty, insufficient educational resources, and parental pressure to quit school.

Most of them were children or adolescents who either had no access to smart devices like mobile phones and tablets or lived in areas where internet coverage did not exist.

Financial poverty in most areas of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, especially in rural areas, due to severe deprivation of families, is in fact the most important factor in students dropping out of school, and besides destroying the inherent talents of such students, it causes damage to educational resources and facilities over the past years.

Only Until Fifth Grade

Samira, one of the dropouts from the village of Lirab in Dishmok district, said: In our village, if we are very lucky and our parents allow it, we can only study until fifth grade, and after that there is no possibility.

She said: Rural fathers, due to lack of proper employment and insufficient income, are unable to provide all expenses, and it is enough for us to sleep with a full stomach at night.

This rural girl, referring to her great desire to continue her education, said: From first grade itself I had a great interest in studying and until the end of fourth grade, I was always the top student in my class, but due to financial problems I could no longer continue my education.

She said: In our village we can only study until fifth grade, and to continue our education we must go to Dishmok, but due to travel distance and lack of facilities, continuing education is not possible for us.

The absence of necessary educational resources and very limited facilities in the villages of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province has caused many students to drop out of school in villages, and has led to an increase in cultural poverty at the village level.

The social harms existing in the villages of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad are mostly due to parents’ neglect in continuing their children’s education and lack of awareness of the importance of education and its valuable role in life, and the increasing development of social problems resulting from this negligence of villagers toward their children’s continued education.

The Director General of Education in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad stated: The total number of middle school students (first level) in the province during the 1400-1401 academic year was more than 36,000 students, and the average number of students dropping out in the province was 237 people, of which 49 percent were girls and 51 percent were boys.

Hadi Zareh-pour added: The total number of middle school students (second level) in the province during the 1400-1401 academic year was more than 26,000 students, and the average number of students dropping out in the province was 96 people, of which 55 percent were girls and 45 percent were boys.

Referring to the rate of student dropouts in the province compared to the national average, he emphasized: The dropout statistics for first-level middle school are 3.66 percent of the national average, and for second-level middle school 1.56 percent of the national average.

Zareh-pour, referring to the important reasons for student dropouts at the secondary level across the province, stated: Considering that some students in deprived and remote areas are not fully benefiting from education due to lack of facilities and lack of access to modern educational equipment and other reasons, it can be said that coronavirus and its spread have caused negative impacts on their education, and of course, besides the coronavirus disease, other factors including social, family, and individual factors have also affected student dropouts.