Factors that Contribute to Dropping Out of Engineering Students of Lyceum of Alabang

during Covid-19 Pandemic, Academic year 2020-2021

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to Professor Cesar V.

Ramirez for allowing us to make this study part of our endless search for knowledge.

Great thanks to our parents for all the love and support in doing this study. They

made us successful by helping us provide financial support, accommodation, and

especially the strength and inspiration in accomplishing everything we do.

We want to acknowledge all our respondents who spent some time and effort in

cooperating to answer our questionnaires and all the students and employees of Cavite,

Muntinlupa, and Laguna, other people who provide some assistance and information we

need in the study.

We would also like to thank everyone who helped us even in a small way,

particularly our friends and classmates contributing to this project's success. Moreover,

above all, this study will not be possible without our Almighty God's guidance and

inspiration.
 CHAPTER 1

A. The problem and its background

The COVID-19 pandemic has become a global health issue and has had a major impact on
education. College courses were forced online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To curb the
spread of COVID-19, most governments have opted to employ quarantine protocols and
temporarily shut down their educational institutions. As a consequence, more than a billion
learners have been affected worldwide. Among this number are over 28 million Filipino learners
across academic levels who have to stay at home and comply with the Philippine government’s
quarantine measures.

To respond to the needs of learners, especially of the 3.5 million tertiary-level students enrolled
in approximately 2,400 HEIs, certain HEIs in the country have implemented proactive policies
for the continuance of education despite the closure. These policies include modified forms of
online learning that aim to facilitate student learning activities. Online learning might be in
terms of synchronous, real-time lectures and time-based outcomes assessments, or
asynchronous, delayed-time activities, like pre-recorded video lectures and time-independent
assessments.

A major shift from traditional to online learning impacted the drop out rate in the Philippines.
Within this context, the present study aimed to identify and explore the factors that contributes
to college students drop out in their online classes during this time of pandemic.

Dropping out means leaving high school, college, university or another group for practical
reasons, necessities, or disillusionment with the system from which the individual in question
leaves. It is an impediment that is bugging the Department of Education and the Commission on
Higher Education not only in the Philippines but also many countries around the globe because
of its increasing rate more and more each year. Increased rates of drop outs means that there is
a big possibility that these students may not complete the needed years in college which may
result to future unemployment for example that can give a big impact on the country's progress
especially in developing countries like the Philippines.

According to Roberta Furger (2011) for some students, dropping out is the culmination of years
of academic hurdles, missteps, and wrong turns. For others, the decision to drop out is a
response to conflicting life pressures -- the need to help support their family financially or the
demands of caring for siblings or their own child. Dropping out is sometimes about students
being bored and seeing no connection between academic life and "real" life. It's about young
people feeling disconnected from their peers and from teachers and other adults at school. And
it's about schools and communities having too few resources to meet the complex emotional
and academic needs of their most vulnerable youth. Although the reasons for dropping out
vary, the results and consequences are surprisingly similar.

Although there were a number of individuals who succeeded in life despite of failing in school,
and ironically becoming an inspirational story for some, but still it is not a fine reason for every
student to discontinue studying and cease on striving hard to complete their schooling. Let us
face the fact that in every nation, school completion is a vital thing in order to land a job. And
let us be realistic that not all can achieve the accomplishments those few propitious individuals
had done.

With these premises, the researchers, chose this study to identify and to have an in-depth
understanding on the common factors that contributes to students drop outs during this
present time. Knowing these factors will not only help students and teachers but also it may
prevent the possible increase of future students who may come across this issues.

B. Statement of the Problem

The primary purpose of this study is to identify the factors the contribute to dropping out of
Engineering students of Lyceum of Alabang during Covid-19 Pandemic in academic year 2020-
2021. Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions.

1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of their:

1.1 Age

1.2 Gender

1.3 Section

1.4 Year and Section

2. What are the primary factors that contribute to dropping out of students/respondents?

3. What is the primary reason of the students in dropping out from their online classes?

4. Is there a significant relationship between the demographic profile and the factors that
contribute to student drop outs?
Objectives of the Study

Specifically, the study aims to:

a. Identify the factors that contribute to dropping out of students from their online classes.

b. Evaluate which among the factors is the primary reason of dropping out.

c. To determine which factor is the less likely reason of dropping out of students.

Significance of the Study

This study was conducted to determine the factors the contribute to dropping out of
engineering students of Lyceum of Alabang in Academic year 2020-2021.

In this connection, the researchers believed that this study is of great value to the following:

Respondents- this will help them find ways to continue their study and develop a positive
perspective and interpersonal relationship.

Parents- this will help them encourage their sons and daughters to pursue their studies and to
be supportive of their children's education.

Guidance Counselors- findings of this study will serve as a benchmark to all guidance
counselors to plan and develop a guidance program focusing on the services and activities to
cater the needs of students who are at risk of dropping out of school.

Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Officials- The result of this study will be of assistance for
youth empowerment and community involvement that will strengthen the area of youth
welfare and development;

The Government, particularly the Commission on Higher Education- The result of this studywill
help the government to support college school dropouts by offering scholarship programs and
other intervention programs that caters the need of the college students; and

The Future Researchers- The research findings of this study could somehow expound by other
researchers or tackling other concerns of students from the private and public schools. This
encourages further to determine the effectiveness of the services of the government and non-
government institutions extended to school dropouts.

Scope and Delimitation

A total of Engineering Students from four year levels in Lyceum of Alabang was randomly
selected to be the respondents of the study