Determinants of school dropouts in India: a study through survival analysis approach

The present study aims to study the risk of school dropouts in India using retrospective approach to apply Cox proportional hazard model. Using the 75th round of NSSO data, it is observed that around 74 per cent of population aged 18 years and above have dropped out from school before reaching 12th standard. The survival approach provides strong causal evidence that factors like caste division, wealth quintile, type of institution, and regional difference play a pivotal role in determining school dropouts in India. Further, no interest in education, distance from school, unable to cope up/failure in studies and financial constraint are the major reasons which elevate the risk of school dropouts. Among these reasons, no interest in education and unable to cope up/failure in studies are related to quality of education, whereas financial constraint and distance from schooling are related to poor public-school delivery in India. Among female population, marriage is an important factor of school attrition. Therefore, the study underscores the importance of better school infrastructure and quality of affordable and accessible education to improve the school enrolment for further levels of education. The study recommends implementing school-based programmes aimed at preventing early marriage among females to mitigate the risk of increased school dropout rates.