Fractality of global primary school dropout rates

Abstract

The significant number of dropouts of children from their primary education has directly contributed to a country’s high percentage of illiteracy and the huge wastage of government funds. The present study looks into the prevalent causative factors of the dropout rates in the primary school education among nations. The method of fractal analysis helped probe deeper the exceptional cases that are still prevalent in some countries all over the world which serve as drivers of dropout rates in the primary level of education. Out of the 152 countries included in this study, at least seven of them cause its non-fractality. These countries that cause non-fractality indicate common and exceptional contributing factors in the primary education dropout rate phenomenon in the world. The use of fractal dimensions in investigating global primary school dropout rates showed that aside from the perennial factors that cause high dropout rates in the primary education level among countries i.e. economic, other prevalent causative factors come into play such as educational system, social status and social climate which nations all over the world must address if they are indeed serious to their commitment to the MDG on education. This fractality has showed that a significant number of dropout rates of children from their primary education have directly contributed to a country’s high percentage of illiteracy and the huge wastage of government funds.