Abstract:
The study examined the school feeding programme and school dropout in
selected beneficiary schools in the Effutu Municipality. In achieving the purpose
of the study, the qualitative approach with a case study design was employed.
Purposive and convenient sampling were used to select a sample of 15 respondents
which included 3 head teachers, 3 teachers, 6 dropouts and 3 parents of the three
selected beneficiary schools. Data was gathered through the use of interviews and
focused group discussion and was analysed according to themes. The results of the
study revealed that with the inception of the school feeding programme, truancy and
absenteeism has been reduced a bit thereby increasing enrolment. However, it was
also revealed that in spite of the implementation of the school feeding programme,
there is still school dropouts in the selected beneficiary schools due the pupils’ desire
for money, pregnancy, learning difficulties, lack of parental support and care, the
educational level of parents and small quantity and poor quality of the food served in
the schools. The study concluded that, the factors associated with school dropout
should be tackled holistically for the SFP to achieve its goal. The study also
recommended that, teachers and other stakeholders in the Municipality should focus
more on sex education, while parents also should focus on home monitoring of their
children especially the females to avoid pregnancy as it was captured as one of the
causes of school dropout in the three selected beneficiary schools, parents’ should
strengthen their parental duties by providing for their children's school needs, elders
of the community should ensure that the measures put in place to support the SFP are
strictly adhered to by members of the community especially the by-laws to help
reduce dropout in the selected schools and there should be adequate support from
parents, government, non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations
to help support the SFP to achieve its goal of reducing dropouts.
Description:
A thesis in the Department of Social Studies Education,
Faculty of Social Sciences Education, submitted to the School of
Graduate Studies, in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Philosophy
(Social Studies Education)
in the University of Education, Winneba
