Assessing the effect of home-to-school distance on student dropout rate in Adi-Keyih sub-zone, Eritrea

Abstract

This study assessing the effect of home-to-school distance on student's dropout rate in Adi-Keyih sub-zone, Southern administrative region, Eritrea. In the current study, correlational method is used to test the significance of home-to-school distance on dropout rate of students. The population of the study embraces all 24 schools in Adi-Keyih sub-zone and their 15,457 students. Out of the total students there were 1215 dropout students (7.9 %) and all of them have been included in the study. For comparative and inferential purposes, the same number of non-dropout students (1215) were selected using systematic random sampling methods and the sample of non-dropout students from each school is proportional to the active student population in each school. This approach yielded a total of 2430 students, which is 15.7 % of the total population. Data were collected from student's personal files by conducting field visits to each school and analysed using simple Chi-Square and logistic model. The finding of logistic regression analyses show that home-to-school distance has a direct effect on dropout rate: as home-to-school distance increases, the likelihood for a dropping out also increases. The relationship is statistically significant at P < 0.10. The study clearly demonstrates that home-to-school distance affect the dropout rate in Adi-Keyih sub-zone, but this result could not be generalized across the whole country as it requires a bigger and more detailed study.