O (in)sucesso escolar no Ensino Secundário na ilha do Sal – Cabo Verde.

Abstract

School failure has been widely discussed in several countries, trying to solve the problem of high rates of repetition and dropout in schools. However the problem still persists, requiring more research to help elucidate it and intervene in it in different contexts. Faced with this, this study, organized in two steps, aimed to broaden the understanding of school failure (defined as, at least, one episode of failure and/or drop out) and school success (absence of failure and/or dropout). First, we have identified the factors associated with school failure in students attending the last year of a secondary school in Sal island - Cape Verde (quantitative step); then we have identified and analyzed the factors associated with school success in a group of students with risk factors for school failure (qualitative step) but who had never failed. The quantitative study was conducted with all students who were enrolled in the penultimate year of secondary school studies in 2014/15 and carried over the 12th year in the following school year, totaling 166 students. For statistical analysis of factors associated with school failure, the following independent variables were used: sex, place of birth, field of study, family income, own bedroom, home ownership, number of residents at home, mother's schooling and schooling and occupation of the person who was responsible for the student´s education. For qualitative research, individual interviews were carried out with six students that had no failure or drop out throughout their schooling, although presenting the following risk factors for it: illiterate mothers and low income. Interviews were also carried out with the person responsible of education of these students (if not their mothers), their teachers and the school principal. The results of a multivariate analysis (Poisson regression) showed that being male, not having a bedroom for him/herself, belonging to a family whose income varied from 3 to 6 minimum wages, belonging to the Humanistic area (in terms of studies´ option) and being born in the islands of São Nicolau Brava and Fogo, were risk factors for school failure. Through the qualitative research, was possible to verify that family support, along with the willingness of the students to achieve a better socioeconomic position than that in which they were, and to be able to return to the mother and family the investment in their education, contributed to make such students well succeeded in school.