THE STUDY OF IN-DEPTH CHARACTERISTICS AND FACTORS AFFECTING OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN: A CASE STUDY OF TAK PROVINCE

Abstract

This research aims to 1) study the in-depth characteristics of Out-of-School Children (OOSC) and 2) to analyze the factors that influence their dropouts. Purposive sampling technique was employed and the snowball technique was used to select the subjects. Data were collected by in-depth interviews of 38 secondary school dropouts, their family representatives, and community representatives at Tak Province. The results showed that; 1) The in-depth characteristics of the subjects were that most of them lived with their parents. However, lacks of communication were common among their families. In addition, the level of family members’ education, their way of life, the beliefs and culture of the people in the community also influenced their choices of whether to remain in the schooling system or to drop out school. At the time of study, all of the subjects were married, had a family and work. As for their education in the future, most of them would not return to school. However, if they wanted to continue their study, they would resort to both the Office of Non-Formal and Informal Education. 1) As for the factors affecting their dropout decisions, it was found that there were divided into two factors: (1) their personal factors, for example, their attitudes toward education, adjustability, marriage, etc., and (2) their family, community, and environmental factors, for example, their parental attitudes towards the target group, family economic condition, and difficulties in traveling to school.