Descripción

Objective: to understand the factors associated with school dropout from the experience of adolescents who dropped out of high school at the Cristo Rey Municipal Educational Institution in San Fernando, Pasto, Nariño. Methodology: qualitative study of a phenomenological type, with a sample of 26 teenager dropouts. Information was collected through a question guide based on the Ecological Model. Results: regarding the microsystem, adolescents who have dropped out of the school system have desires for overcoming, so they mostly plan to reenter the school system or work. Concerning the mesosystem, dropout adolescents report in their school career the loss of years in primary and high school, episodes of mistreatment by teachers, difficulties in the relationship with their peers, bullying, processes of coexistence, low academic performance and possible learning difficulties. Related to the macro system, it is evident that adolescents do not know or do not understand some fundamental aspects of the functioning of the educational system, such as the evaluation system and the teacher’s role in the evaluation process. Conclusions: the adolescents leave the institution without having a project outside the school system, therefore, those alternatives of free time occupation, schooling or income generation offered to this population, are likely to be welcomed.