Research has shown that about 1.4 million young people apply to study in colleges, polytechnics and universities in Nigeria and about 700,000 ever receive  admission letters and  congratulatory messages. Out of the 700,000 who are offered  admission, few actually get through the system and convoke as he or she matriculated.

The United Nations Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization Institute for Statistics says that the rate of drop out of students in Nigeria is alarming as pupils and students of primary and secondary schools are not left out. This is scary because as it is said, education is the key.In our higher institutions, I have noticed that it is not everyone who matriculates that has the opportunity to get to the end, and it seems no one has paused to ask what the cause could be, probably because school drop out have been with us for a very long time that it seems to bother no one. This is one of the problems that the Nigerian educational system is facing.

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Dropping out of school simply means that a student untimely withdraws from school without completing his studies and earning the certificates that he or she would have received at the end of the years in school.

It has become so rampant in Nigeria that it is no longer funny. In this article, I will examine 5 causes of the sky rate of drop out in our institutions.

1. Financial Constraints: You can imagine gaining admission into a university of your choice, wow! Your heard swells, you want to fly, you are on top of the world, and your dreams are finally coming true, then, bang! You are suddenly faced with a challenge; you are dropping out of school. Why? There is no finance to pay your tuition, you don’t have money to type your assignments, nothing to buy the unending hand-outs dished out by your lecturers, and you can’t even afford a meal. You are dropping out, all hopes are destroyed, dreams are shattered, and that’s the end of education for you, at least for that time. This is the sad fate of students who do not have financial aid in their education. I would say that this is the predominant reason why lots of students involuntarily drop out of school. Most students work while they study and they might loose their jobs and their source of income. That will mark the end of education for them.

2. Distraction: Finally, you have been admitted into the university, and you feel you’ve certainly arrived; you now have the freedom that you have always craved for and was denied you by your parents, wow! Your parents were tying you down and you probably hated them for restraining you from certain activities, yes, you are finally free to take part in everything, go anywhere, and attend all the parties at the expense of your studies. No time to read, assignments are left undone, classes are skipped, continuous assessments are missed, exams are failed, your grades fall below average, your CGPA is reduced to the barest minimum and you are advised by the school to voluntarily withdraw from the school. You are awake from your slumber to face reality; you do all you can to save your education but you have already lost the opportunity. Your last resort is to drop out. This is the fate of students who arrive at campus and are easily distracted.

3. The Attitude of Some Lecturers: The beautiful girl is admitted to gain knowledge from you, she is your daughter’s age, and she has caught your eye or put it this way, your eyes have caught her, you lust after her, all you want to do is sleep with her, you call her to your office, she comes innocently and native, you tell her and she gives you a big NO, you are furious looking for a way to trap her. Then an idea comes to your mind, you victimize her over and over again and she is so frustrated that she has to drop out, or what did you expect her to do, sleep with you? That young man in your department is so intelligent that you hate him so much, you frustrate him and he drops out of school. The other student fails your course and you name a price for him or she and she can’t pay, what do you expect them to do? This is but a few experiences students who drop out of school might have faced.

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4. Parent’s Decision: You are a Medical Doctor or would have loved to be  one, but you couldn’t, then you vow that your child must become a doctor or an engineer as the case maybe. He tells you he wants to do something else and you disagree and threatens to stop paying his or her school fees if he or she doesn’t listen to you. To make you happy he lets go of his dreams and take up yours. He gets to school and the once bright child becomes a dummy simply because he doesn’t understand anything. The algebra looks totally strange, he can’t even make a head of the course, and he is so frustrated that he cannot cope. He loves literature and would probably spend time through the night to write stories because that’s where his passion lies, but that mathematics class has become a nightmare. At the end of the semester he can’t summon up courage to check the result board, and when he packs his belongings he decides he is no longer coming back to school and that’s final. He decides to drop out of school rather than fail.

5. Cultism: The young boy is so enthusiastic to be leaving home to pursue his academics and there in the center of it all lies different cult groups. Some will gently and politely approach him to join them and others will try to force him and he will politely decline. And they will all begin to tackle him. They will stop at nothing to make him join them. They will do anything to make life so unbearable for him while on campus. To save his dear life he will have to call it quits.

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These are few reasons why some students give up and take what they might feel is the easiest way out. In the next article, I will make few suggestions on how this menace could be curbed. Thanks for reading and don’t forget to keep a date.