International Research Journal of Education and Technology

Education implies the systematic process of acquiring knowledge, skills, values etc. According to 2011 census, HDI is very low that is 0.444. Literacy rate is 79.18 per cent of total population, male literacy rate is 78.81 per cent of total population and female literacy rate is 67.27 per cent of total population of India. Only 7 per cent of the population that goes to school managed to graduate and only 15 per cent of those who enroll manage to make it to high school and achieve a place in the higher education system. GOI insure free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 14 under article 21A in Indian constitution However, a substantial number of children are out of school. School dropout refers to a student who leaves the school before completing a course of instruction Because of dropout, unemployment rate increases as they are not eligible for many jobs. The study tries to analyze the level of dropouts and the reasons behind it with reference to West Bengal and India. Both primary and secondary data are collected for this research and analyzed through percentage, tables and the graphs. There are various reasons of dropout such as- poverty, failure in examination, parents’ disinterest, students’ low interest, taking care of home, marriage, fear of insult, health problems etc.