School access and staying in school is one the most important issue for the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan particularly for girls. According to the Ministry of Education (MoE), nearly seven million children have access to school in Afghanistan, 37 per cent of whom are girls.
Students drop out of schools before completing their education cycle, to know who drops out and to what extent; this study describes some of factors that influence students to drop out of school in grade 4 and grade 6.
To find out some factors that may influence girls and boys to drop out of schools in grade 4 and 6 six, structured interviews were conducted in 10 schools – 5 in rural area and 5 in urban area of Maidan Wardak province of Afghanistan. Data was collected by random sample from 32 girls and 48 boys who left schools. 20 teachers and 20 parents were also interviewed to know what their opinions are on drop out of students.
After data collection, several factors were found to cause students drop out of schools; some of the most prominent causes were Poverty, lack of security, long distance to school and socio- culture factors.
By looking to the current educational situation of the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan, there is a need of research almost in all areas particularly in the area of girls’ education.