A package of interventions to reduce school dropout in public schools in a developing country. A feasibility study.
OBJECTIVE
School dropout rates are staggeringly high in developing countries, even for elementary school children. This study aims to assess the feasibility and initial efficacy of a package of interventions tailored to reduce school dropout in public schools in an urban city in Brazil.


METHODS
Two public schools with similar high rates of dropout in elementary grades were selected. In one of them, a package of universal preventive interventions was implemented during a school year, including two workshops with teachers, five informative letters to parents, three meetings with parents at school, a telephone helpline at school, and a 1-day cognitive intervention. For children who stayed ten consecutive days out of school without reason, mental health assessment and referral to mental health services in the community were offered. In the second school, no intervention was implemented.


RESULTS
After this 1-year intervention, there were significant differences between the two schools in rates of both dropout (P < 0.001) and absenteeism in the last trimester (P < 0.05; effect size = 0.64). In the intervention school, 18 (45%) youths returned to school after intervention among the 40 at-risk students. Moderate engagement of school staff was the main logistic problem.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that programs combining universal primary preventive strategies and interventions focused on at-risk students can be implemented and useful in developing countries to reduce school dropout.
Graeff-Martins
Ana Soledade
AS
Dept. of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Rua Ramiro Barcelos, 2350, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil 90035-003.
Oswald
Sylvia
S
Comassetto
Júlia Obst
JO
Kieling
Christian
C
Gonçalves
Renata Rocha
RR
Rohde
Luis Augusto
LA
D000293:Adolescent; D001938:Brazil; D003906:Developing Countries; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012574:Schools / Q000639:trends; D013332:Student Dropouts; D014505:Urban Population