Abstract

Out of school children (output) spring from the experiences, beliefs, interests, and attitudes towards events and processes leading to out of school (process) that develop from different reasons (Input). Focus group discussions were conducted with eight children and their seven parents. Secondly, views from social media (Face book) were collected to strengthen their voices. The thematic analysis of the data highlighted many reasons for being out of school using codes, themes and subthemes. Diagramatic view of results was drawn with the help of NVivo 11 plus. Some of the reasons such as poverty, school environment, house chores, parents’ behavior, teachers’ teaching styles, curriculum, language barriers, the literacy rate in that area, and gender issues have direct implications for education policy. Efforts, therefore, were made to identify the required changes in the education policy. A strategic plan to overcome these barriers was defined at the end for the reduction of the number of school children.

Key Words

Out of School, Implications, Education Policy, Thematic Analysis, Focus Group,            Social Media (FaceBook)

Introduction

Education also helps people to play a key role in handling environmental problems through traditional and contemporary approaches to learning. Education increases the decision making power of women in selecting the birth of one or more babies and the timing of pregnancies. Any country which has a deficit of educated people should forget its progress. Societies whose new generation is an expert in reading, writing, and learning can progress more than the other societies. So, a regular system of education, formal, informal, or nonformal, requires imparting education. Schools play an important role in getting an education. So, the government should increase the enrolment rate, and parents should motivate their children for learning to gain success in their lives. 

Quran is a guide for the whole world, and people admit its rightness.  In the first revelation of Allah Almighty to his Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him), He ordered him as: “Read in the name of your Lord, Who created, the man from a clot. Read, for your Lord is most Generous, Who teaches through the pen, teaches man what he does not know. [96:1-5] 

All prophets and intellectuals showed the right path of life to people by educating them. Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) preached many times about the importance of education. He said it is the core responsibility of every man and woman to get an education. Henceforth, education becomes the key to success; the success of people, the success of a country, and the success of a nation. 

There is confusion in the definition of out of school children by exposure to formal education. Some countries where is not compulsory pre-primary education. How can it be possible to enter children lacking school readiness and not in school into the Dimension 1 category? On the other hand, we can be considered children of primary school age who are still in pre-primary classes or homes into out of school children as pre-primary classes are not part of universal primary education. But in other countries where compulsory pre-primary education exists there, you can consider and give admission to primary and lower secondary aged children into the pre-primary level. Figure 1 showed that dimensions 2 and 3 are divided into three categories on the basis of formal school exposure

Figure 1

Categories of Dimension 2 & 3.



Another thing that is very important to note down is that children of two different populations and ages of out of school and in school but at risk of exclusion cannot be summed up. For example, you cannot add children of dimension 2 who are primary school age out of school children into children of dimension 4  who are primary school age but, at risk of dropping out children because they represent different populations and ages and cannot be summed into total out of school population or total at-risk population.  So, you can add one age group of children in one category (UNICEF, 2015).

Basic education is compulsory in Pakistan by law, and all the education policies from the birth of Pakistan endorse free basic education; as Shami (2010) said that in every announced education policy, the government has a great emphasis on literacy and universal enrollment. In the All Pakistan Education Conference (1947), the Education Minister said that our first concern is to determine the problem of illiteracy and its evil consequences. Again in the Commission on National Education (1959), the issue of illiteracy has been highlighted. The portion of this report related to this issue is as under; Education must be available for all, but due to limited resources, it will not be possible to provide universal education at once.

The relevant objective which highlights the problem of illiteracy and universalization of elementary education in the Education Policy 1972-80 is that education must be provided to everyone without any difference of faith, caste, and creed. 

The 1979 Education Policy the Mosque and Mohallahs schools had been used to increase the universal enrollment. For the eradication of illiteracy of adults, women, mentally retarded and physically handicapped children and underprivileged groups in all areas of Pakistan, the government provides elementary education. The relevant policy objective of the Education Policy 1992-2002 appears below: Universalization of education must be insured by the year 2002, and female education will be increased.

In the shortest period, the removal of illiteracy and arrangement for compulsory education are the main objectives of Education Policy 1998-2010, which is also mentioned in the article of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. For this purpose, this policy asserts to accomplish the following objectives (a) to establish basic education community schools for achieving universal primary education by formal and nonformal educational approaches for the school dropouts all over the country, (b) to provide learning content and tool for every child, and (c) To provide free access of education to every child by increasing the middle and secondary schools with the removal of imbalances and disparities in the education system of Pakistan. The Ministry of Education of Pakistan has developed the following objectives in the National Education Policy 2009 to overcome illiteracy: (a) to universalize quality primary education with the help of adult literacy programs within minimum possible time and (b) to attain universal objectives of Millennium Development goals and Dakar Framework of Action Goals for education. However, all these policies are rhetorically drafted for Universal Primary Education and make possible Education for All in actuality, but no action has done. Now the question is that, can they attain their objectives in time?

Instead of taking many initiatives by the government, Pakistan has the second-highest number of out of school children in the world.

Kakoli & Sayeed (2013) found that in poor urban areas, low enrollment is increased in the presence of illiterate women at home. They said that the economic condition of families increased the probability of out of school children. They also observed that boys and girls have different reasons for being out of school. Habib (2013) explained that educational devolution had become the most crucial challenge for Pakistan. More funds, the involvement of the community, and parent’s demand for quality education can build an improved educational system. 

Early school leaving has drastic effects on economic growth; thus, children enrol in school is one side of a fact, while completion of their schooling is another serious side of a fact. To achieve universal primary education, our main focus is on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Millennium Development Goals (MDG), and EFA (Education for All). Ministry of Education 

Ministry of Education Brazil, in its Education for All 2015 National Review Report (2014), gave a detailed description of Education for All. According to this, the EFA report was made in Incheon, Republic of Korea, on 19?22 May 2015 by the same personnel present in the World Education Forum. To assess development made since 2000 towards achieving Education for All (EFA), UNESCO sent an invitation to its Member States to submit their progress reports in that period and to show the challenges remaining in the period post-2015. There are six goals to be pursued by 2015 by all the countries that signed the Dakar Commitment.

UNESCO (2014) summarized these goals as:

Figure 2

Dakar Framework for Action – Goals



Source: Developed from the Education for All goals

 

The basic Education department of South Africa (2013), in its Country Progress Report, also explored six EFA goals. Brazil also adopted these goals of commitment. In Pakistan, the National Plan of Action 2013-16 in 2013 also wrote these goals. The main aim of Education for All is universal primary education, while worldwide poverty reduction is the main aim of MDGs.

National Plan of Action 2013-16, Pakistan (2013) explained that second and third MDGs are related to the improvement of education. These are universal primary education and a reduction in gender disparity, especially in education.

In Liberia Country Study, UNICEF (2012b, p9) focused on these two goals by ensuring that “all primary school-age children (girls and boys) can complete a full course of primary schooling by the year 2015, and to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education not later than 2015”. National Plan of Action 2013-16 (NPA) aimed to achieve the second Millennium Development Goal by bringing 5.06 million out of school children back into the school (GoP, 2013).

Despite significant efforts, Pakistan can’t achieve the second MDG and second and third Education for All goals. Pakistan has initiated many strategies to enhance the number of out of school children that are National Education Policies of 1998-2010 and 2009, the 18th Amendment to the constitution, specifically Article 25A, and Sindh, Balochistan, and most recently Punjab (April 2014) Education Act. The aim of the National Plan of Action 2013-16 (NPA) is to Achieve MDG 2 by bringing 5.06 million out of school children back in school (GOP, 2013).

According to UNICEF (2015a) said that Pakistan has 72% of enrollment in schools, and the NEMIS data scale showed the three times increase in out of school children from the previous. Although some progress, such as national primary NER is 68% (GoP, 2013, p11), 50% is the completion rate to grade five and Literacy rate of age fifteen to twenty-four-year-olds is 58% ( GoP, 2013). On the other hand, Pakistan has the largest percentage of OOSC in the region of primary level (34%), whereas Bangladesh has a considerably highest rate (31%) of lower secondary OOSC (UNDP, 2013; GoP, 2014a).

Pakistan has spent 1.5-2.1% of GDP on education between 2001 and 2012/13 (GoP, 2014). Whereas in 2013, it was 2.0% of GDP (GoP, 2013), although UNESCO has recommended 6% of GDP on education (UNESCO, 2014). The Pakistan NEP 2009 recommended 7% GDP on education. The government should work strategically to improve enrollment, retention, and achievement by improving quality and reducing inequalities which are the key objectives of the MAF (MDG Acceleration Framework) National Plan of Action (MoE, 2013).

UNICEF explored multiple barriers that limit access to education (UNICEF, 2014; 2015). These barriers are shown in Table 1.

 

Table 1. Reasons for being Out of School

S. No	Reasons for being Out of School
1	Enabling environment a)             Legislation/policy •       Lack of political commitment to inclusion •       Laws and policies that discriminate against minorities •       Restrictive administrative regulations, sudi as requiring a birth certificate to enrol in school b)            Budget/ expenditure •       Inequitable allocation of resources •       Lack of cost strategies to reach the poor •       Wastage of resources •       Funding gaps c)             Management/coordination •       Lack of effective delegation and devolution •       Lack of transparency and accountability mechanisms •       Weak monitoring mechanisms •       Lack of technical capacity •       Lack of mechanisms for inter-sectoral coordination •       Lack of effective participatory mechanisms at local levels •       Education system collapse during emergencies
2	Supply a)                   Availability of essential inputs •          Inadequate number of teachers per class •          Lack of female teachers •          Lack of schools or learning spaces during emergencies •          Inadequate provision of textbooks and learning materials •          No textbooks in the mother tongue of children b)                  Access to adequate staffed services, facilities and information •          Lack of water and sanitation in schools •          Long-distance to schools •          Lack of transport •          Inaccessible environment and lack of support services for children with disabilities •          Unsafe schools
3	Demand a)             Financial access •       School fees and other out-of-pocket expenditures for education •       Opportunity costs and support for household subsistence •       Economic repercussions of emergencies b)            Social and cultural practices and beliefs •       Negative individual emotional experiences of children with schooling and within home/community •       Lack of benefits of education due to the low rate of labour market return •       Pregnancy and marriage reduce girls’ participation •       Pregnancy and marriage reduce girls’ participation •       Orphans/fostered children may be disadvantaged •       Household choices for sending children to school, with different preferences for boys and girls a)             Social norms • Social rules and pressures that marginalize certain groups •       Discrimination against migrant groups b)            Timing and continuity of use •       Poor attendance •       Overage 4. Quality
4	a)                    Quality •       Lack of relevance of curricula, with weak links to livelihoods and jobs •       Violence in schools, including bullying, beating, psychological stress, corporal punishment, sexual harassment •       Poor teacher training •       Lack of qualified teachers •       Teacher absenteeism, loss of time on task •       Inadequate pedagogy •       Teaching in non-mother tongue •       Lack of integration of local values/ cultures •       Ineffective evaluation approaches •       Poor monitoring of attendance and learning progress •       Inadequate assistance to children with special needs •       Low7 achievers pushed out or fell out

Source: UNICEF, 2015

Rana and Chaudhry (2011) depicted street children’s life and their experience. He found that due to the bad effects of management, environment, social values, genetics, and culture; human development and street life influence each other.  Their mistrust retarded their development as a human and ultimately they become social evils. They accept dishonesty and double-dealing and start learning the art of lying, deceiving, fabricating stories, and distorting facts.

UNICEF and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) launched global initiatives on out of school children, and the main objectives of it were to analyze the profile of out of school children. Another objective of this initiative was to analyze the factors of exclusion from schooling, including the policies, and to understand the problems of out of school children (UNICEF & UNESCO, 2010). Up to 2014, twenty-four countries from seven regions of the world had launched the OOSCI (Out of School Children Initiatives) study, and many other countries are showing interest to carry out OOSC Initiatives studies. These studies helped to find out the factors that are becoming the reasons for being out of school and also guide policymakers to develop strategies for reaching out to school children.

The above indigenous and international literature described the detailed reasons for being out of school. After the critical review of different reasons children for being out of school, researchers concluded that, basically, four are the main barriers against enrollment. These are socio-economic causes, psycho-cultural causes, political causes, and demographic causes. However, Pakistan is facing the problems of poverty, health, nutrition, terrorism, environmental conservation, water and sanitation, gender equality, and socio-economic development; the only and the actual cause of all these problems are that most of the children are being out of school.

There is no context-specific research has been done to document the voices of out of school children to map out some plans to solve the problems of out of school children. The government of Pakistan has focused on increasing and sustaining the rate of enrollment by spending many resources to persuade children and their parents, but all in vain because these efforts may not be integrated with the aims of our educational policy.

This study is unique on its own as it takes and compares voices of both, i.e. out of school children and their parents’ by focus group discussion and views from social media also strengthen these voices. Previously, most of the studies used a quantitative approach to find the reasons for being out of school.

 

Objective of Study

The researcher's premise was to find out those invisible barriers that affect children’s education and lives in terms of their perceptions and their parents’ perceptions.

Methodology

The selection of research methodology depends on the paradigm that guides the research activity, more specifically, beliefs about the study of being (ontology) a way of understanding and explaining how we know what we know (epistemology) as defined (Crotty: 2003:10), and a strategy or plan of action which lies behind the choice and use of particular methods (methodology) (Crotty, 1998. p. 3). Mostly, a paradigm has an ontology, epistemology, methodology, and methods. 

It is a bounded study of out of school children; henceforth, it adopted different techniques of ethnographic method including semi-structured interviews from out of school children and their parents, focused group discussion of out of school children and their parents and views from Facebook on finding out different factors that influence their education.




Focus Group Discussion




It is a method for generating information and meaning on collective views to judge the participant’s attitude and belief.  So, it is an identification of participants’ interests, beliefs, attitudes, and experiences, and peer commentary on these opinions expressed by participants and others is known as focus group discussion. It helps the researcher to give meaning to discussion with the help of personal interaction and cooperation among the researcher and participants.

Interviews should be in pairs or groups. Henceforth, a group of 6-10 people with a moderator comprises a focus group. A non-directive style of discussion produces a variety of viewpoints on a specific topic in a formal and facilitative way. The researcher found that focus group discussion of both out of school children and their parents is as important and comprehensive as to find out the objectives of this study from interviews. The researcher requested a respectable representative of a small village from a remote area of Lahore to gather out of school children and their parents in a particular open place of this village. The researcher selected only those children and their parents who showed interest in discussion and did not hesitate to be video recorded. It was a difficult task for the researcher to focus on the main questions of this study. The researcher also served them with samosas and coke. This focus group discussion held to gather the views of both out of school children and their parents separately. A group of children had 08 participants, while a group of parents had 07 participants. The main question for the children's focus group was “Why didn’t you go to school?” and for the parents' focus group was “Why your children could not go to school”? 




Social Media

The main agenda of using social media (Facebook) was to explore unbiased and fair views of people (Snelson; Social Media Research Group, 2016) as people join groups of their own choice and also share pieces of information of their own choice. It is a powerful tool used in many kinds of research (Kosinski et al., 2015; Wilson et al., 2012; and Chover-Sierra, & MartõÂnez-Sabater, 2018). Facebook produces richer data and its deeper analysis as Facebook offers an easy way to access and produce networks of family, friends, communities of interest, and professionals. People visit and join groups of their own choice and interest, and it becomes a means of communication and sharing pieces of information. This user-generated material helps researchers to get the required data at a mere touch of a button by asking questions in the search bar or different groups of their choice. The major concern about this data is that either it is public or private. Every user agrees about the terms and conditions related to the access of data for others. Another important issue related to ethical consideration for the use of social media as a research tool is informed consent. In many types of research, data is analyzed and accessed without the permission of participants as each participant participate upon her or her own will (Townsend & Wallace, 2016). Repeated online and offline interaction on Facebook increased the interpretative validity of research verifiable against a social theory rather than a simple explanation of the phenomenon (Lunnay et al., 2014).

In this research, Facebook data was used to find what people think about the actual causes of children being out of school. For this purpose, the researcher joined some research scholar pages on Facebook in which this question was asked: “Why children are out of school in Pakistan?” The responses were captured from social media by Ncapture Software and organized in the form of a word document. The researcher used Facebook data due to its uniqueness, availability, and reliability and simplification of certain penetration issues. (Nelson, 2015 cited Blank, 2013). 

Results

Children Focus Group Discussion




This part describes the qualitative analysis regarding focus group discussion of Out of School Children that were demonstrated by NVivo 11 plus. The same process of discourse analysis had been adopted by labelling common patterns, attributes, ideas and interests of Out of School Children in a focus group to generate common themes.  The themes of “School”, “Daily wages”, “Poverty”, “Family problems”, “Behaviour”, “Education”, “Area”, “Future dream”, “Occupation”, and “house” emerged from Children Focus Group Discussion. 

Each theme emerged from different codes, which were developed by organizing a group of data like repeated words, attributes, and ideas by using the NVivo 11 plus software. It can be seen in figure 3 below:

Figure 3

Hierarchy of Identified Detailed Themes Map of Thematic Analysis in NVivo11 for Out of School Children’s Focus Group.




Two codes changed place, and negative people torture girls and boys were generated the theme of “Area”. Future dreams generated from a good job, become a doctor, become a policeman, become a soldier, no change in our situation and problematic situation. Good “Education” depends upon becomes a better human being, can’t calculate and read, can’t read the name and simple phone numbers, illiterate, and importance of education. The behaviour of out of school children emerged from busy in playing, helping hand, not happy, feel jealous to see educated children, and liked school. The next theme, “Occupation”, emerged from works in houses, wash utensils of people, sweeper, the father is carpenter, and can’t find work. Family problems were generated from; father has no time, mother’s illness and death, father’s illness, sister's sickness, problems in their homes, sibling’s take care, and no free time. Some attributes that generate poverty were no fee for school, father’s support, electricity bills, no transport, and inflation rate. Two codes, house chores and house rent generated house-related problems that also affect education. For children and parents who work on daily wages, their income is not constant. School-related problems such as school’s admission, school’s staff, homework, and liking also decrease the literacy of a country.  




Parents’ Focus Group Discussion

The themes that emerged from parents focus group discussion was “Daily wages”, “education”, “proper uniform”, “schools”, “Poverty”, “Occupation”, “Person”, “Teachers’ behavior”, “Girls”, “House”, and “work”.

Each theme emerged from different codes, which were developed by organizing a group of data like repeated words, attributes, and ideas by using the NVivo 11 plus software. It can be seen in figure 4 below:

Figure 4: Hierarchy of Identified Detailed Themes Map of Thematic Analysis in NVivo11 for 

Figure 4

Out of School Children’s Parents Focus Group.



The theme girls extracted from a parents point of views as; sexual harassment, afraid of bad happening with girls, current time and situations are not good for girls and threatening about our girl's kidnapping. Teachers’ behaviour stops the education of their children by frightening behaviour of teachers, teachers send children back to home, teachers abused, and teachers scold children. House problems such as house rent, electricity bill, feeds animals, and house chores are the major problems for the out of school children. Low salary parents' occupations such as making bricks and labourer reduce the chances to get an education. Poverty was the major or foremost problem in the life of the poor. It destroyed the minds, heart and soul of the family. The codes reflected poverty were food for one time, less food, poor, no stationery, don’t have copies, scarf, and shoes, no resources, getting insulted, rent a vehicle for our girl's schooling, can’t afford the study, difficult to change our position, eat bread with red chillies and salt, and poor become poorer and die. The theme school emerged from codes, i.e. private schools, government schools, and want lunch in schools. Parents said that children busy with different works and cant be able to attend schools. The theme of work explored by parents as child work, labour, work, work to fulfil family necessities, wife works in different houses, no free time for playing, and daughters help in cooking. Parents can't afford proper and neet uniform for their children. The theme of person had two codes, i.e. illiterate person and poor person. The theme of education originated from some codes that were getting an education, good education, want our daughters to become bold and confident, education is important, illiterate person, good jobs are not for illiterates, know about their selves, and literate speaks thoroughly. The last theme of this discussion was daily wages.  It had codes, i.e. don’t know to find work next time, daily wages, and tired after working all day. 




Reasons for Out of School (Facebook Data)

The themes on which participants show their willingness were “Parents”, “Education”, “Behaviour”, “Poverty”, and “Family size”. These themes were identified by thematic analysis in NVivo 11 plus software for Facebook Data.

Each theme emerged by the initial coding process to organize a group of data like repeated words, attributes, and ideas by using the NVivo 11 plus software. It can be seen in figure 5 below.

Figure 5

Hierarchy of Identified Detailed Themes Map of Thematic Analysis in NVivo11 for Facebook Data (Reasons for Out of School).



Hopeless parents, uneducated parents, parent’s ignorance, illiteracy, Parent’s earning, and parents' lack of concern were the similarities in the Facebook data of participants that originated the “Parents” theme. The theme “education” was identified in data as a good education, getting an education, and uneducated parents. “Behaviour” was identified by similar codes such as lack of awareness, fear of the study, and don’t know the importance of education. The theme “Poverty” emerged from some codes. These codes were no financial support, sacrificing basic needs, education is very expensive, underprivileged, unemployment, begging business, lack of facilities and focus is more on survival. The theme “family size” was also important to measure the reasons for being out of school.  




Reasons for Dropout (Facebook Data)

Participants identified common themes by coding similar attributes, interest and ideas. The common themes for “Reasons for Dropout” were “work”, “school”, “teaching”, “environment”, “child’s need”, “curriculum”, “language barrier”, “poverty”, “behaviour”, and “skills”. It can be seen in figure 6 below.

Figure 6

Hierarchy of Identified Detailed Themes Map of Thematic Analysis in NVivo11 for Facebook Data (Reasons for Dropout).



Initial coding of data generated the theme of “curriculum” by labelling the codes unproductive or boring curriculum, change in curriculum, no attraction, and curriculum isn’t impressive. The theme of “School” was developed by lack of equipment, school work, school needs, teachers beat in school, an impressive school environment, and schooling is a business. Teaching style, teachers beat, favouritism of teachers, teaching skills, and memorization generated the theme of “teaching”. Two codes bore work, and school work identified theme “work”. The most common codes for the theme “child’s needs” were own diversity is ignored, pushed to meet the standard of the school, and lack of motivation.   




The next theme was the “behaviour” of students, which at last drop them out of class. Technical skills and teaching skills were the codes for the theme “skills”. According to participants, “Poverty” was the main cause of failure. It is reflected as a lack of educational support, expenditures of school, earning members of the home, materialism, preferred to do some kind of job, and unable to fulfil school needs. The theme “environment” was developed from an impressive school environment, home environment, unattractive classroom, lack of future guidance, lifestyle, illiteracy, and sudden changes in the education system.




Comparisons of Voices

Comparison of Children Focus Group Discussion vs Parents Focus Group Discussion

After the process of Auto coding by NVivo 11 plus, Children Focus Group Discussion was compared with Parents Focus Group Discussion to find the similarities and differences in the viewpoints of children and parents.

Figure 7

Hierarchy of Comparison of Identified Theme Map of Thematic Analysis in NVivo11 for Focus Groups discussion.



The similarities and differences between the voices of out of school children and parents in focus group discussions showed that both were agreed upon the problems related to school, daily wages, chores (in house and out of the house), girls, and uniforms. The attributes that were highlighted by parents were labour work, getting an education, good education, private schools, government schools, household chores, girls' kidnapping, illiterate person, poor person, child work, proper uniform, work, education, and person. While the attributes which were highlighted by only children were house chores, liked school, school’s staff, house rent, girls dropout, bought the uniform, and house.




Comparison of Reasons for Out of School vs Reasons for Dropout Facebook Data

In order to find out the similarities and differences of Facebook Data for the identification of reasons for out of school and reasons for dropout from school, a process of auto coding was done by NVivo 11 plus. 

Figure 8

Hierarchy of Identified Comparison of Themes Map of Thematic Analysis in NVivo11 for Reasons for Out of School and Reasons for Dropout Facebook Data.

Facebook data identified some similarities to find out the reasons for out of school and dropouts. These similarities were family, school, and education. The discourse analysis of Face book data highlighted some reasons for out of school were family size, getting an education, school demands, good education, uneducated parents, hopeless parents, and only the parents. Whereas the highlighted reasons for dropout were a family burden, teaching style, impressive school environment, home environment, rather education, aggressive behaviour, school needs, rude behaviour, school work, bore work, teaching skills, teaching, technical skills, environment, work, behaviour, and skills.

Discussion

The methodology of this research was exploratory in nature, and qualitative thematic analysis was used. Interviewees’ responses encouraged the researcher to develop themes in creative ways by using a continuous procedure of study and made connections among the responses of children and parents. The process of coding and recoding helped the researcher to look at data in a new way and made connections among themes.

Qualitative results of eight out of children and seven out of school children’s parents’ focus group discussion disclosed some important causes of being out of school. Some socio-economic factors are responsible for limiting the access of children to school (Andrew and Orodho, 2014).

Similar types of problems were found from focus group discussion of children and parents, but children also identified some different problems, e.g. negative people torture girls and boys, becomes a better human being, can’t calculate and read, can’t read name and simple phone numbers, feel jealous to see educated children, busy in playing, electricity bills, and house rent. Parents of focus group also identified some problems, e.g. afraid of bad happening with girls, current time and situations are not good for girls, threatening about our girls' kidnapping, food for one time, rent a vehicle for our girls' schooling, eat bread with red chillies and salt, private schools, government schools, want lunch in schools, want our daughters to become bold and confident, know about their selves, and literate speaks thoroughly. Poverty, gender and location are the main causes that reduce access to education (UN, 2014).

Some reasons for out of school identified from Facebook data were hopeless parents, parent’s ignorance, parents' lack of concern, lack of awareness, don’t know the importance of education, sacrificing basic needs, underprivileged, begging business, and focus is more on survival. While reasons for dropout were also found from Facebook data, e.g. unproductive or boring curriculum, change in curriculum, no attraction, the curriculum isn’t impressive, lack of equipment, schooling is a business, teaching style, favouritism of teachers, teaching skills, memorization, bore work, own diversity is ignored, pushed to meet the standard of the school, lack of motivation, earning member of the home, materialism, preferred to do some kind of job, lack of future guidance, unattractive classroom, and sudden changes in the education system. UNICEF started out of school children global initiatives in many countries, and up to 2014, these initiatives were taken in twenty-four countries of the world to find out the reasons for being out of school and how to solve these problems (UNICEF, 2012; 2012a; 2012b; 2012c; 2012d; 2013; 2013a; 2013b; 2014; 2015b; 2018)?

Children said that their area, their future dreams, their education, children and parent’s bahaviour, parents’ occupation, family problems, poverty, house chores, work on daily wages, and school-related problems become the main hurdles against their education. In focus groups, out of school children exposed that their area where negative people torture girls, and boys and parents are changing the place of living to affect their education. They have some dreams. They said optimistically that they want to become a teacher, a businessman, a doctor, a policeman, want to get a good job, but in a pessimistic manner, they said that their situation would not be changed and they live in a very problematic situation. Out of school children declared that as they are not educated, they can’t calculate and read, and they can’t read the names and simple phone numbers. They know the importance of education as they want to become good human being. Out of school children’s behavior reflected their intentions. They said they feel jealous to see educated children. These out of school children like to go to school, but those who failed were always busy playing. They are not happy with their life as they are the helping hand of their families. 

Their parent’s occupations don’t support their education. They stated that their father is a carpenter, their mother works in different houses and wash the utensils. One told me that we couldn’t find work, and the other told me that maybe illiterates become sweepers. The Focus group also mentions their family problem that may become one reason for their being out of school. These reasons are their father has no time for their education, mother’s illness and death, father’s illness, problems in their homes, sister’s sickness, and take care of her, siblings take care and no free time other than house chores and labour work.  Thematic analysis of out of school children focus group revealed that poverty ruined their lives in such a manner that they have no fee for school, no transport for school, no parental support, but high inflation rates. They like to go to school and get admission, but they think as they have not proper uniforms and educational accessories, teachers send them back home. These children feel the burden of the family; on the other hand, they want to get an education. 

A focus group of parents discussed that they want to send their girls to school, but due to the fear of sexual harassment and bad happening with girls, they don’t do this. They said that the current time and situations are not good for girls. One of them said that we are threatened by a landlord about our girl’s kidnapping that why we don’t send our girls to school. Khatoon et al. (2016) revealed the most underlying factors for Out School Children belonging to marginalized communities. 

Those children who discontinue their education, their parents said that teachers’ behavior was not good with our children. Their teachers abused and scolded them, and due to their frightening behavior, children drop their education in the way. Parents also told that they are labourers and making bricks so, it becomes too much difficult to pay house rent, bills and provide food for their children. Wagle (2012), Young et al. (2002) and Moore (2017) explored the reasons for dropouts. 

To strengthen the views of children and parents about the reasons for being out of school, the researcher captured the views of the public on social media (Face book) about the reasons related to children being out of school in Pakistan. 

The Facebook data identified some reasons for out of school and some for dropout children. Results of the thematic analysis of data showed that children are not in school due to their parents’ attitude, their wish to get an education, children's and parents’ behavior, poverty, and family size. Parents’ attitudes, interests, and ideas about their children’s education encourage or discourage their children from going to school. Many parents of out of school children are hopeless, uneducated, and illiterate. They have no concern about the education of their children due to their ignorance, and their earning is also not to feed them. Some uneducated parents have a great wish to send their children to school to get a good education. 

Some children are out of school due to the fear of studies. They and their parents don’t know the importance of education. In our country now, education is free, but parents are unaware of this. In order to provide education to children does not mean sending them to school, but sending them with all accessories to school. So, it becomes difficult for the poor, whose actual focus is on their survival, not to provide education to their children. Now a day, education becomes expensive, and people who are underprivileged and unemployed can’t afford educational expenses. Results of Facebook data reflected that children have no financial support, they have a lack of basic facilities, their business is begging, they are sacrificing basic needs, and they belong to large families. Hence, these reasons don’t support their education.

The views of people on Facebook also highlighted some reasons for children’s dropout. They said that children and parents’ work, they wish to go to school, teacher’s teaching styles, home, school and society, environment, children’s needs, curriculum, language barriers, poverty; children, teachers and parents’ behavior, and learning of different skills become causes of dropout in Pakistan. 

Results of the thematic analysis of people showed that the environment becomes a barrier in the way of dropouts as; unattractive classroom, home environment, lack of future guidance, impressive school environment, lifestyle, pressure on families, and illiteracy are affecting the education of children. Unproductive and unimpressive curriculum, no attraction in the curriculum, and frequent changes in curriculum make education a difficult one for children. School’s environment, corporal punishment, school’s needs, school work, schooling as a business, and lack of equipment in the school or school-related problems which were discussed by people on Facebook. 

Teachers’ ways of teaching impress some of the depressed children. Some teachers are in favour of some students while others punish students. Some use the way of memorization, and some have no teaching skills. Due to these teaching styles, some children stop their education. School’s bore work also detracted some children. 

People said that educational language should be to mother tongue as different instructional languages decrease the rate of success. Parents and teachers ignore the needs of individual children. They pushed them to meet the standards of the school and don’t provide motivation to their children. Children’s diversity is ignored and forced to work for parents’ interests. Sometimes children’s behavior becomes the cause of their failure. Children's aggressive and rude behaviour, their interest in other things, their lack of interest in studies drop them out of school. Sometimes they faced bullying and punishment from teachers that ruined their lives.  Teachers help them by using their teaching and technical skills. Facebook data also explored that poverty becomes the main cause of dropout. They identified that lack of educational support, high expenditures of school, children are the earning member in their homes, materialism, preferred to do the job and unable to fulfil school needs are dropping them out of school. Chirtes (2010) emphasized four reasons for dropout, i.e. family factors, school-related factors, social environment, and personal factors. 

The comparison of Children Focus Group Discussion with Parents Focus Group Discussion showed that both parents and children thought that no proper occupation, school-related problems, low access to girls’ education, less educational resources, home responsibilities are the main causes for being out of school. While comparison of reasons for Out of School and reasons for Dropout Facebook Data showed some common factors responsible for being out of school. These are family, school, and education-related problems.

Conclusion

This study focuses on both out of school and the dropouts and gathers data from children and parents while strengthening their viewpoints; the researcher also collected data of common people from Facebook and highlighted some implications for education policy. The major reasons for being out of school reflected from the voices were; poverty, school environment, parents work on daily wages, they wish to get an education but can’t afford, busy in house chores, no provision of proper uniform, involvement of other family members who discourage their wish to get an education, parents’ behaviour, teachers teaching styles, children own needs, curriculum, language barriers, involved in the training of other vocational and technical skills, illiteracy and females’ problems.

To overcome the problem of out of school children, the government has developed several policies and strategies to reach these children (UNICEF, 2015; UNICEF, 2013b) in table 2.

 

Table 2. Policies and Strategies for Out of School Children in Pakistan

S. No	Policies and Strategies for Out of School Children in Pakistan
1.	Article 37 (b) & (c) of The Constitution of Pakistan (1973)
2.	Article 25A of Hie Eighteenth Amendment in the Constitution of Pakistan
3.	National Education Policy 1998-2010
4.	National Education Policy 2009
5.	National Plan of Action for Education for All (2001-15)
6.	EFA Dakar Framework for Action (April 2000)
7.	UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
8.	National Plan of Action to Accelerate Education Related MDGs 2013-16
9.	Education Sector Reforms (ESR)
10.	Gender Reform Action Plan
11.	National Plan of Action to Combat Child Abuse and Sexual Exploitation
12.	UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and ILO Convention No. 138 on the Minimum Age of Employment
13.	The World Bank launched a conditional cash transfer scheme for lower secondary girls in rural areas of Punjab in 2003
14.	The Education Voucher Scheme launched by the Punjab Education Foundation in 2006
15.	Zakat Programme
16.	Benazir Income Support Programme
17.	Bait U1 Mai
18.	Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund
19.	KhushaliBank
20.	KASHF Foundation
21.	National Rural Support Programme
22.	Primary and secondary schooling and textbooks are provided free of charge in public schools.
23.	World Food
24.	The Tawana Pakistan Programme
25.	National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) programs for feeder schools and adult literacy centers.
26.	Public-private partnerships
27.	The local Government Ordinance, passed in 2001

 

Farooq (2013) made an inclusive schooling model for the prevention of dropout and found some major causes of school dropout.

Major findings (Reasons for being Out of School), Policy implications, and their responsible personnel and institution explored in Table 3 below.

 

Table 3. Reasons for being Out of School, Policy Implications and Responsible Personnel and Institutions

Reasons for being Out of School	Policy Implications	Responsible Personnel’s and Institutions
Poverty	•         Financial provision should be increased to seven percent of GDP to support access to education •         Making crafts or other related activities	• Federal and provincial Government • Educational and Vocational Institutions. Parents, NGOs’, and Local Government
School environment	•         Promotion of education-specific intervention programmes •         Provision of nutritional supplementation •         The mechanism for reporting cases of bullying •         The School calendar should be reformed to adapt it to local seasonal activities	•     Educational institutions, NGOs’ Media, and Parents •     Federal and Provincial Government •     Educational institutions, NGOs’ Media, Parents, and Religious Personnel’s •     Educational institutions, and Parents
Work on daily wages Wish to get an education	•         A conditional and unconditional cash transfer to parents strategies •         Develop advocacy campaign for parents to enrol their children in school	•     XGOs’, Federal and Provincial Government •     Media, Parents, XGOs’, and Federal and Provincial Government •     XGOs’, and Federal and Provincial Government
House chores	•         Develop incentives for encouraging parents to participate in early or prompt registration of children	•     Federal and Provincial Government, and XGOs •     Media, Parents, XGOs’, and Federal and Provincial Government •     XGOs’, and Local Government
Provision of proper uniform	•      Establishment of Feeder Schools all over the country. •      Back to school campaign	•     Local Government, XGOs’, and Religious Personnel’s
Involvement of other persons	•      Regulation of video cinemas with possible heavy fines for violators of education •      Political, religious, and community leaders should work closely	•     Educational institutions, NGOs’ Media, Parents, and Federal and Provincial Government
Parents’ behavior	•      Provide continuing education for parents through the alternative learning systems (ALS).	•     Teachers and Heads of Educational institutions
Teachers teaching styles	•      Teachers should focus on and devote more time to pupils who underperform and former dropouts who drop in. •      Prohibition of corporal punishment through legal action •      Teacher training initiatives	•     Federal and Provincial dal Government, and Educational institutions •     Federal and Provincial Government, and Educational institutions
Child’s need	• Counseling programs should be implemented to promote social cohesion among • Alternative modes of delivery of education	• Educational institutions, NGOs’ , Media, and Parents • Educational institutions, and Federal and Provincial Government
Curriculum	• Involvement of religious leaders for an integrated approach to education •      E-L earning	• Religious personnel, Educational institutions, and Local Government • Federal and Provincial Government and Educational institutions
Language barriers	• Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education	• Federal and Provincial Government, Educational institutions, and NGOs
Training of other Technical skills	• Multi-grade and multi-task teaching and learning techniques	Educational institutions, and Federal and Provincial Government
Literacy rate in that area	·        Catch-up program • Identify hard-to-reach groups of Out of School Children ·        Distance learning programs • Develop tracking databases for Out of School Children	• Local Government, Media, NGOs, and Provincial Government •NGOs, and Provincial Government • Federal and Provincial Government and Educational institutions • Media, and Federal, Provincial and Local Government
Female problems	•      Publications and brochures •      Social protection strategies   • Programs aimed to discourage early marriage •      Gender disparity reduction program	• Local Government, NGOs, Media, and Provincial Government • Religious Personnels, Local Government, NGOs, Media, and Provincial Government • Religious Personnels, Local Government, NGOs, Media, and Provincial Government

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