Student Satisfaction In Secondary Education: An Empirical Study Of Indian Expatriate Students

Children who live abroad with their parents are exposed to a wide diversity of cultural and educational influences. They face various challenges as they live in a different country and experience a different culture. It is therefore important to understand their perceptions with respect to factors that could potentially enhance their satisfaction with schooling and subsequent positive engagement. The main aim of this paper is to understand what factors lead to school experiences of secondary school expatriate Indian students which in turn could lead to their better engagement. Data were gathered relating to perceptions of 1786 expatriate Indian students experiencing secondary education in the Sultanate of Oman with respect to organizational support, teachers’ support, peer support, school satisfaction and student engagement. Correlation and regression analyses carried out on this data revealed that variables including organizational support, teachers’ support, and peer support were highly significant in predicting school satisfaction of these students. It was also revealed that there exists a highly significant relationship between school satisfaction and student engagement which is not moderated by the location – rural or urban – of the school.