Resiliency among Australian school students: A report on 43,799 primary and secondary school students

Abstract

This paper captures the voices of students who dropped out of school in Bhutan. The aim of thestudy was to document student experiences in terms of what led them to drop-out of school andhow they could have been supported to remain in school. A total of 158 participants (male 118and female 40, between the ages of 13 to 44) from both Youth Development Centers andRehabilitation Centers completed a self-developed questionnaire. Data was analyzed by theresearcher, who created deductive constructed-analysis to identify broad and unique qualitativethemes. Results showed that the majority of students dropped out of school due to individualand school related reasons such as lack of finances and lack of teacher support. Some of themajor qualitative themes for dropping out of school ranged from poor family backgroundfollowed by drug abuse, to lack of support, and negative life experiences. However, moststudents reported that they would have continued education if they had received some level ofacademic and personal support. Implications of the study are discussed.