UNIAMAZONIA UNIVERSITY

SCIENCES OF EDUCATION FACULTY

ENGLISH TEACHING PROGRAM
INVESTIGACIÓ

CAUSES IN SCHOOL DESERTION IN COLOMBIA

“It can be a hero the same that triumphs that the one that succumbs, but never the
one that abandons the combat”. (Thomas Carlyle, 1795-1881).

Education is one of the factors that any person and society must take into account. It is
identified as a fundamental mechanism for the nation or country to acquire a broader level of
development, but the School Desertion has been a problem that is reflected in all educational levels
(from the basic to the higher) nowadays in Colombia. Therefore, it is an issue that affects the
development of a society in a territory where education is the principal weapon for ignorance.
Then, when education is affected, mainly by School Desertion, a social predicament begins
bringing causes that are involved within this problem such as bullying, economic factor, and family
organization.

Bullying is any form of psychological, verbal, or physical abuse that occurs between school
children repeatedly over a certain time (Fernandez Carlos, 2009) therefore, this type of school
violence is characterized by a repetition aimed at intimidating the victim and implying an abuse of
power which is exercised by a stronger aggressor. It is common for the bullied to live in terror with
the idea of attending school, and to be very nervous, sad or lonely in their daily life. That is to say,
in the bullying, the abused subject is exposed physically and emotionally before the abusive
subject, generating a series of consequences which in some cases are difficult to repair, affecting
a person not only in his/her social life but also physically and psychologically.

On the other hand, the Economic Factor is another entity that influences the School
Desertion, especially in the most remote and vulnerable areas of the country; such as rural areas,
where the peasant population and their children must face the economic situation together, thus be
able to have a livelihood for the family. According to Espinoza conclude that the economic factor
derived from insufficient income in the home, and it is a decisive factor for School Desertion.
(Espinoza et al., 2012; Ream y Rumberger, 2008). Economic factors influence the lack of
resources to face the costs of school attendance which increases the necessity of working to solve
 UNIAMAZONIA UNIVERSITY
SCIENCES OF EDUCATION FACULTY
ENGLISH TEACHING PROGRAM
INVESTIGACIÓ

those supplies. That is said, the economic factor that many students must face in their daily life
becoming this in a relevant factor for deserting from Schools.

The Organization of Families is a factor that directly affects the different educational
processes of students in our country and that consequently leads them to School Desertion. The
number of children in a family could be a factor that influences this great problematic. Also, it
reflects a higher risk of it because the number of children in a family nucleus could be big and if
the family economic situation is complicated, those children would have less possibility of
attending a school due to parents will not be able to offer an education to each child at the same
time. Another important aspect is the process a student suffers when he/she loses one of his parents
because of separation; it causes a student has to make decisions about what parent he/she prefers
live with or who should stay with him/her. So, students in many times have to deal with problems
at home which emerge and influence in their lives and in the choice of leaving the school.

To sum up, the School Desertion is due to various cause which generate serious
consequences that affect the personal, economic and social development of young people. The
School Desertion is an affected by three principle causes, such as bullying, economic factors and
the family involved. It is not an easy problem to attend. For that reason, one intervention strategy
will not be sufficient to get a solution for those problems. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out
various measures, in which parents, students, teachers and educational authorities can participate,
and thus commit themselves to mitigate this problem for the common benefit of the family, the
community, and the society.

REFERENCES

http://www.eduinnova.es/dic09/bullyng.pdf
https://www.lifeder.com/desercion-escolar/
https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/461/46132134004.pdf
http://www.scielo.org.mx/pdf/rmie/v21n70/1405-6666-rmie-21-70-00881.pdf