Why they Contemplate Leaving: Exploring the Factors that Drive the High Dropout Intention Rate among University Teacher Trainees in Post-COVID Uganda and South Africa

In the post-COVID-19 period, it is evident that various studies have been conducted on the effects of the pandemic on economies, politics, education, and teachers, to mention but a few, but there are very few studies on how the pandemic has influenced student turn over especially in as far as educational retention and drop out intention is concerned. It should be noted that a multiplicity of factors hinder disadvantaged students from completing their studies and becoming lifelong students for educational and academic sustainability. Therefore, in addition to exploring the factors for this hindrance, the purpose of this study was also to offer strategies or alternative pathways that should be implemented to retain students and help them overcome related challenges. A qualitative approach was chosen for the study and a snowball sampling technique was utilized to select a total of 16 teacher trainees drawn from one Ugandan university (8) and one South African university (8) to explore factors why student teachers contemplate dropping out of their university education. Microsoft Teams meetings and physical interviews were utilized to collect data. The data was analysed thematically. Findings showed that the intention to drop out of university is driven by COVID-19-related factors or effects such as grief and loss of employment; government policies, economic, academic, and personal factors. The researchers therefore recommend teacher motivation, counselling, and new funding models to support teacher trainees, partnering with different potential employer stakeholders, focusing on addressing COVID-19 instructional effects, and creating socially safe spaces to minimize the intention to and actual drop out which are detrimental to future teacher availability. This in turn has implications on the quality of education for sustainability, which in the long run has implications on students’ academic achievement and job prospects. Keywords: Dropout Intention, Demographic, Teacher Trainees, Post-COVID-19