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Rising School Dropouts: The Plight of Estate Children in Sri Lanka-By Himani Vithanage Continued from last Friday Source:Island Moreover, gender-wise, more boys (than girls) drop out, mainly because of their higher engagement levels in economic activities. Financial difficulties, engagement in economic activities, changes in attitudes and behaviours of children during the prolonged school closure, the shift in students’ priorities and interests away from education mainly towards earning, non-supportive parents, and low academic performance are several reasons identified to have worsened the issue of school dropouts in the estate sector ever since the outbreak of the pandemic. Although dropping out is generally an issue most prevalent among students in higher grades, currently, students in lower grades have also become vulnerable to dropping out. Way Forward Accordingly, there is a rise in the number of children dropping out of school in estate regions. The main reason for this is the worsened financial ...