Dropouts and Social Determinants of Health; Policy for the Prevention of School Dropout, Qualitative Study of the Causes and Interventions

BACKGROUND: Indicators of the level of education are the most important parameters influencing each country's development. Social indicators considered to be a determinant of one's health consists of two constituents namely; (1) Rate of students enrolled in elementary, guidance, secondary and higher education and (2) the rate of adult literacy. This study is aimed to evaluate the situation of school dropouts in Iran, their causes, and appropriate interventions. METHODS: Data were collected through literature review (including published researches and analysis of documents), focus group discussions with the presence of experts from (Department of Community Health, Academy of Medical Sciences) and interviews with stakeholders then these data were classified and presented in three sections namely; current situation, causes and solutions. RESULTS: Results showed that Iran's current situation in terms of school dropouts is unsatisfactory in comparison to developed countries and in some countries in the region. Influencing factors for school dropouts were classified into (1) Individual factors such as intellectual disability and behavioral disorders (2) group factors such as peer groups, family problems and children's reduced interests in school and (3) major factors such as educational system and the changes of value, economic, cultural, and political issues. CONCLUSIONS: The present study, with the presentation of statistical documents specifically of the current problem of school dropouts in all levels of the Iranian society has been determined and aside from identifying the causes and factors affecting school dropouts, provision of strategies in three levels of prevention to combat this problem has been addressed.