Child’s Growth and School Dropout in Sindh

Abstract

This research paper aims to explore child’s growth (in terms of chronological, physical, and social interpretation of puberty and adulthood) as reported causes of school dropout in Sindh. The major focus of the paper is to find gender differences in school dropout due to growth related concerns. The concept of child’s growth has been operationalized to include growing chronological age, physical or bodily growth, and social interpretation of reaching puberty as a symbol of gaining adulthood. The research was done through a survey of school dropout children in Sindh. The school going age children who have left school were randomly selected in each district. The data was collected with the help of a questionnaire comprising 3 items scale developed to ascertain the potential of a child’s growth as a cause of school dropout. The results of the study show that a relatively smaller number of children in Sindh leave school due to any aspect of their personal growth (i.e. only 5.2% due to grownup age, 9.7% due to physical growth, and 9.2% due to puberty). More girls are found leaving school due to growth related concerns as compared to boys. More girls are found to leave school due to physical growth (i.e. 19.6%) and puberty (i.e. 20.6%) in Sindh. The data analysis has confirmed a statistically significant difference between two genders in their school dropout due to growth-related issues.