Student desertion of the Rural Development major, municipality of La Dalia, period 2012-2016

Abstract

The present article analyses the student desertion of the Rural Sustainable Development major, developed in the program of Universidad del Campo (Rural University Program), in the municipality of El Tuma, La Dalia, conducted by UNAN-FAREM-Matagalpa, during the period 2012-2016. During the first two years, this project was supported by the European Union, through the project ALFA III. UNAN-Managua took over the project in 2014, through its institutional budget. The student desertion is a phenomenon present in all education levels of the country, and in Latin America. The objective of this study is to analyze the causes of the student desertion of this major. Visits to students that dropped out were made, and they were administered an instrument to identify the causes of their desertion. This article is part of a study conducted from the Universidad del Campo program, within a doctoral research. The main causes of the desertion are: level of enrollment to education (after having passed ninth and tenth grade), economic factors, and employment situation and/or family responsibilities.

Keywords: Student Desertion, Rural Education, Universidad en el Campo.