Typology of school dropout: The dimensions and dynamics of dropout in Ghana Eric Daniel Ananga CREATE Research Associate, Centre for International Education, Education Department, University of Sussex, Essex House, Brighton BN1 9QQ, UK 1. Introduction Education is generally seen as a powerful tool for reducing poverty and achievement of economic growth. It empowers people, improves individuals’ earning potential, promotes a healthy population, is a major determinant of democracy and helps build a competitive economy (Huisman and Smiths, 2009). Access to education is therefore at the centre of the develop- ment agenda for most low income countries. With the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, education is a right for every child of school going age. The start of the Education for All (EFA) campaign after the World Education Forum in Jomtien in 1990 has seen remarkable progress in getting children in developing countries into basic education. Nonetheless, hundreds of millions of children tend to drop out of school (UNESCO, 2007a). The EFA Global Monitoring Report 2010 reports that while enrolment rates are rising, millions of children enter primary school only to drop out before complet- ing a full primary cycle and in sub-Saharan Africa, some 28 million pupils drop out of school each year (UNESCO, 2010). It has been argued that in much of Africa, the problem of educational access is not entirely about children not enrolling in school but also about starting school and dropping out (Dumas et al., 2004; Hunt, 2008; Lewin, 2007). Thus the problem shifts from getting children into school to keeping them in school. Children who terminate schooling before they have finished the curriculum do not develop their potential to their fullest and countries that experience it waste scarce resources. In Ghana improvement in enrolment and initial access at the basic education level has grown over the years and Gross Enrolment Rates are now above 95% (MOESS, 2007). While basic school enrolment in Ghana has improved significantly in recent years, one major challenge facing it has been high cases of drop out (MOESS, 2007). Over 20% of school-age Ghanaian children have either dropped out or never enrolled in school (Ampiah and Adu- Yeboah, 2009). A report on the state of education in Ghana by Akyeampong et al. (2007) and other studies confirm the reality of dropouts in Ghana’s basic school system (GSS, 2003; MOESS, 2007). For example, in 2006 the non-completion rates stood at 15% and 35% for primary and JHS levels (MOESS, 2007). The Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), reports that dropout rates across all grades in Ghana are similar (4%) except for grade three, which is 5%. Males have higher dropout rates than females in almost all grades. Also, from grades 1 through 6, dropout rates in rural areas stood at 3.9%, 4.1%, 4.6%, 3.4%, 3.6% and 3.9% respectively compared with 3.3%, 3.9%, 5.5%, 4.6%, 3.8% and 4.5% (GSS, 2009). There are however wide regional variations in dropout rates. The regions with worse dropout rates are the Upper West, Northern, and Central regions. In the Central region, where this study was located, dropout rates from grades 1 through 6 stood at 7.3%, 8.2%, 10.7%, 8.5%, 8.6% and 6.2% respectively. To achieve universal basic education 2015 target in Ghana, policy attention needs to focus more on addressing dropouts. Few studies in Ghana have focused on children’s views of dropout, their explanation and definition(s) of it. According to a dropout study in Ghana by Ampiah and Adu-Yeboah (2009) they cited Akyeampong et al. (2007) as only dwelling only on the causes by listing critical events. Hunt (2008) argues that dropout is a process which needs to be understood because of its relevance for policy (see also Ampiah and Adu-Yeboah, 2009). In this paper, I highlight the voice of the children (aged 7–17 years) who experience dropout and use their definitions and explanations of dropout to explain the dropout International Journal of Educational Development 31 (2011) 374–381 ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Dropout Drop-in Exclusion Temporary dropout Permanent dropout Ghana ABSTRACT This paper explores the dropout experience of children who dropped out of schools located in two rural communities 1 in the Central Region of Ghana. The main research question sought to explore the meaning and types of drop out founded on the views of children who had dropped out of school. The study tracked 18 children aged 7–17 years. Snowball sampling was employed to identify participants of the study. Data was collected from children and significant others 2 using in-depth interviews. Using CREATE’s analytical framework of zones of exclusion, this paper identify five type of school dropouts and argues that policies to prevent dropout and encourage drop-in requires specific rather than general targeting. ß 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. E-mail address: edananga@gmail.com. 1 The two rural communities are located in the newly created Mfantseman District in of the Central region in Ghana. 2 Significant others in this study include teachers and parents. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Educational Development journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijedudev 0738-0593/$ – see front matter ß 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijedudev.2011.01.006