Over 5000 students dropped out of school in the last five years before completing Year 10 education while 4589 dropped out before completing primary school.

Minister for Education Aseri Radrodro confirms that 5726 students were identified in the Ministry’s Management Information System Database as unregistered from 2019 to 2023 in schools.

Radrodro says while specific reasons for dropout or premature exit from the education system are not captured in FEMIS, reasons that have been disclosed at school level include but not limited to demise, migration, public school to private school movement, formal employment, informal employment and medical conditions.

Education Minister Aseri Radrodro

Radrodro says contributing factors to school dropouts are multifaceted.

He says the Ministry uses FEMIS to identify frequent or prolonged cases of absenteeism and children with learning difficulties.

Radrodro adds that outside of FEMIS, teachers, child protection officers, heads of schools will also capture information such as history of family difficulties, including migration, family violence, single-parent families and children conflicting with the law.

The Education Minister states that to assist these students there is a need for a collective effort of government agencies, civil society, churches, religious organizations, families and the vanua in the proactive approach in assisting the Ministry.