The PLACE of High School Drop-out in the Dwindling State of Education and Economy of the Nigerian System

The issue of high school drop-out has been a source of worry to parents, students and government for over three decades. This in the past gave rise to ‘mass promotion’ of students at the end of terminal examinations. The idea of promoting teachers whose students passed more was muted in order to reduce High School Drop-out Rate (HSDR) and this situation has long been highly abused. But the HSDR is still on the increase. It is on this backdrop that the paper sought to identify those factors that are associated with this negative trend in the Nigerian educational sector. A 60-item validated questionnaire was distributed to students and teachers in institutions of higher learning in Bayelsa State(one of the oil-producing states) of Nigeria, with a view to establishing male, female, teacher, student opinions as to what factors impact more on HSDR and how they affect the economy that is already checkered. Implications of findings were utilized in proffering recommendations.