Part of a series of ‘How-to’ Guides that highlight successful initiatives by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and its implementing partners from around the world, this Guide provides tips, activities and immediate and long-term strategies from CRS/Kosovo’s experience with student dropout prevention and response.
The Guide provides a step-by-step explanation of the process undertaken in Kosovo to respond to and prevent student dropout at the community, municipality and central government levels. The main focus is on identifying the characteristics of children who are most at risk of dropping out and developing early intervention strategies to prevent these children from leaving school - late interventions were found to be ineffective.
In Kosovo, this involved the creation of a Taskforce comprised of relevant organizations, parent-teacher associations and government bodies. The Taskforce guided the process by defining the term ‘dropout’, determining its causes and factors by gathering qualitative and quantitative data, and selecting target schools for conducting Focus Group Discussions and surveys. An explanation of the three-step intervention approach adopted by CRS/Kosovo is underscored by eight narratives that illustrate appropriate methods for responding to specific cases. The Guide also provides a number of general recommendations for dropout prevention.
©Catholic Relief Services
