PROCEDURE AND RELAVENT RESEARCES DONE BY OTHERS
The purpose of this “Action Research Plan” is to study a problem relevant with sociology of education, and to find a most suitable strategy to deal with it. Hence, the assignment (Action Research Plan) is mainly focused on prevention of Drug use among school children from primary education to Higher Secondary Education, and school dropout in these Grade Levels. Moreover, parents play a major role in preventing risk factors in most socio-educated related issues; it’s highly emphasized on parents’ role. For this Action Research Plan, several survey reports were read through, interviews were made to respective bodies, and survey questionnaire were distributed to different areas of the Maldives. Different focused groups were selected in the survey.
Since, all the nations and societies at different continents in the world are globalised, several research pieces related to the topic is chosen from different ends of the world, and from the Maldives itself. The relationship between dropping out of high school and substance use was explored using the 1984 National Longitudinal Survey of Young Adults (Barbara & Denise, 1988). Cross-sectional data of the survey indicated that high school dropouts were more involved with cigarettes and illicit drugs than were graduates, and event history analysis indicated that prior use of cigarettes, marijuana, and other illicit drugs increases the propensity to drop out and that the earlier the initiation into drugs, the greater the probability of premature school leaving (Barbara & Denise, 1988).
Over the past 10 years in the United States, approximately 5 out of every 100 students dropped out of high school prior to completion (National Center for Education Statistics, 1998). Young people who drop out of school prior to high school graduation are at high risk for many negative social and economic consequences, and some of studies have looked at the relationship between dropping out of school and problem behavior studies have reported higher rates of substance use among dropouts than among adolescents who remain in school (Tobacco Use among College Students, School Dropouts, and Pregnant Women, 2007).
Victorian School Students Survey prevalence of drug use and the characteristics of individuals who use drugs in Victoria and Australia-wide
Selected statistics collated in the Victorian Secondary School Students and Drug Use Survey on 2002 indicated that year 7 to 12 uses cannabis, and it was the most commonly used illicit substance among secondary school students, thus 3% of year 7 students use cannabis weekly, compared with 11% of year 12 students. It also showed that at least 20% of secondary school students in years 7 to 10 had deliberately sniffed inhalants at least once in their life, and 13% of year 7 students compared with 2% of year 12 students had used inhalants in the month before the survey. Also indicates that students who lived with both of their parents were less likely to use substances than those who lived in other family structures. (Drug use in Victoria, 2006).
In an analysis of three national surveys of substance use among youths ages 12 to 21 who had run away or been homeless at some point in their lives, done by Dr. Christopher Ringwalt, Jody Greene, and their colleagues at Research Triangle Institute in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina found that, for almost every drug surveyed, youths living on the streets had markedly higher rates of drug abuse than either youths in shelters or a comparison group of youths living at home. It also found that 71 percent of homeless youths in Los Angeles had an alcohol or drug abuse disorder or both at the time of the survey. Dr. Kipke said that their data showed abuse of alcohol and drugs was a pervasive and debilitating problem among street kids. Dr. Ringwalt also said that the finding added to the scientific evidence that family substance abuse had a profound adverse effect on children.
In the Spring of 1998, the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, in conjunction with the Public Policy Research Institute (PPRI) at Texas A&M University, conducted the sixth statewide school survey of drug and alcohol use among in-school youths, which found that Fifty-eight percent of Texas secondary students used either tobacco, alcohol, inhalants, steroids, and/or illicit drugs during the past school year, including the past month; 76 percent reported using some type of substances in their lifetime, and about 36 percent of secondary students reported using an illicit drug at some point in their lives, and 72 percent had ever used alcohol (Figure 1). Alcohol continued to be the most widely used substance by young people in Texas; rates of current use have been stable since 1992 (Figure 2).
Figure (source): http://www .eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/recordDetail?accno=ED429256 - 25k
A glance at surveys done in Maldives showed the same trends as they are in other ends of the worlds. The EFA 2000 Assessment: Country Report of Maldives for World Education Forum showed that school dropout rate between Grade 1- 5 (primary grades) in 1996 was 18% per years input per graduate. An educator who works in Education Ministry said that the number of school dropout in secondary and middle school was much higher through out the last 5 years from 2002 to 2007.
Age of first drug use was fairly similar among the different sites of Maldives. In Male’, more than half the respondents had started drug use by 16 years of age. In the north and south, half of the drug users had initiated drug use by the age of 17 years (Rapid Situation Assessment of Drug Abuse in Maldives, 2003).
Age of first drug use in Maldives
The Maldives is a unique state comprised of 1,200 islands with a population of a quarter of a million scattered over two hundred inhabited islands. The traditional system of education in Maldives that has evolved for centuries composed of three types of institution: Kiyavaage, Makthab, and Madharsaa. Madharsaa usually expanded the curriculum to include more subjects such as literacy skills. This system deserves credit for the high (93% in 1986) literacy rate of The Maldives, hence today; the Maldives has a functional literacy rate of over 98%, which is the highest in South Asia and on par with the best in the world. Most of the Makthabs teach the young to read and write Dhivehi and Arabic as well as simple arithmetic. Continuous research in upgrading the curriculum goes on. A new national curriculum for primary and middle schools was designed and introduced in 1984.
Current enrolment at the primary level shows a declining trend for boys and girls, which may reflect declining birth rates. At upper secondary school (grades 11 and 12), a high level of discrepancy exists in male/female school enrolment (36 per cent females to 64 per cent males) (Country Population Assessment 2001). Another cause for concern is the number of students who drop out during or after the secondary level, especially after 15 years of age. The completion rate for secondary education (both sexes) was 33 per 1,000 in 1995. The dropout rate, contrary to the usual patterns in many developing countries, is slightly higher among males (Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2001).
Age of recent drug users in Maldives in 2003 is given in the (figure 3). According to Narcotics Control Board, age of recent drug users had fallen below 7 years in Maldives during last 5 years till the end of 2007. This seems a great impact on students schooling and their academic performances and results. Finally leads to school dropout through out Maldives.
According to Rapid Situation Assessment of Drug Abuse in Maldives 2003, 91 per cent of drug users had not achieved the desired level of education. Reasons cited for this included drug use (27 per cent), financial difficulties (21 per cent), - disciplinary problems in school, or lack of interest in studies (21 per cent). Over half (52 per cent) reported repeated difficulties while they were in school. Among this group, problems were mainly related to discipline (43 per cent) and attendance (19 per cent).
A school head of Male’ said that 90% of the school dropouts in last few years appeared to be drug addicts.
This is amazing and showing that a country with peaceful and religious history has been faded away by globalization, and thus showing that these problems are here in all societies in the world; which affects education system a lot.
