ANALYSIS ON THE VULNERABILITY OF THE MIDDLE-SCHOOL POPULATION IN VASLUI COUNTY

doi:10.35189/dpeskj.2020.59.4.3

Abstract

The present research is part of the project called “Sustainable social and educational integration through sports activities”, which is focused on increasing both the school attendance rate for students in lower secondary education and the ISCED 3 transit rate. Vaslui county has a wide range of vulnerabilities affecting this segment of the school population. Our study aims to highlight the structure of these vulnerabilities, which are divided into 8 categories as follows: Roma students, students with one or both parents working abroad, re-migrating students, students from disorganised or single-parent families, students from child protection institutions, students whose parents are immigrants/refugees in Romania, students with special educational needs, students at risk of early school dropout. This applied research was carried out over a period of 3 months. The participating subjects are students enrolled in two middle schools that have an ISCED below 50%; their total number is 190, of whom 105 boys and 85 girls. The research methods used are: scientific documentation, survey, mathematical and statistical method, graphical method. The results of the research are reflected in the identification of vulnerability structures for students in lower secondary education from Vaslui county. The research actually makes an X-ray of the social problems faced by middle-school students in rural areas.

Highlights

In modern knowledge and information societies where schooling and lifelong learning are of critical importance, dropout from school is a severe problem (Wilson et al, 2011).Romania has one of the highest percentages of early school dropout among European countries
The data provided in the Declaration on belonging to a vulnerable category were processed and it was found that, in the two middle schools in Vaslui county, only four categories of vulnerabilities were highlighted, namely: students at risk of early school dropout for other reasons than those listed below such as belonging to a socially assisted family, cohabitation with other students exposed to the risk of early school dropout, other forms of poverty, etc.; students of Roma ethnicity; students with one or both parents working abroad; students from disorganised or single-parent family
We notice that the structure of vulnerabilities among middle-school students is dominated by the risk of early school dropout

Summary

Introduction

In modern knowledge and information societies where schooling and lifelong learning are of critical importance, dropout from school is a severe problem (Wilson et al, 2011). Romania has one of the highest percentages of early school dropout among European countries. School dropout is a phenomenon that directly leads to social exclusion and has an impact on both the individual and the entire community. Social exclusion is associated with adverse effects for both mental and physical health; for example, ostracism is a ubiquitous phenomenon across the lifespan that threatens the fundamental human need to belong to a group (Pollatos et al, 2015). The need to belong is a basic, powerful and pervasive motivation in the life of an individual (Baumeister & Leary, 1995)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion