Role of Youth Organizations in the Rehabilitation of School Drop Outs

Abstract

Children and youth are the future assets of any society and they should be nurtured, groomed and protected as they grow. They need to be facilitated to master the developmental tasks and competencies required to take on adult role in the society later. The responsibility to facilitate such growth mainly falls on the government. However, the issue is so huge and enormous that it calls for a supportive and proactive role from other major stakeholders such as educational institutions, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), parents, teachers, educationists, social workers and youth workers. Education is by far the most significant means of the avenues available for children and youth to grow and safely navigate childhood and adolescence in to the adult world. Education not only provides children and youth with job related competencies but also plays a major role in their character formation and social skills. When children drop out of education in their early formative years, it becomes a personal loss as well as a national calamity. They become a burden to themselves and society in their later years. This paper attempts to look at the issue of school drop outs, reasons for young people to drop out and the role of one of the stakeholders – the youth organizations in handling the issue.