In today’s 21st century educational era, we have learnt that educational access cannot be assumed to mean educational success for every child. In many classrooms across developing countries, one third of the students are physically present but disengaged from learning. They are in school but achieving no greater academic success than the child who is out of school (Center for Global Development, 2013). The question of who they are, and why they are failing, is an important one that has been drawing the attention of governments, education policy makers, and education development partners in recent years; especially given ever-widening international efforts towards fulfilling conditions to facilitate the right to an education for all children. Being able to early identify students at risk to failure, and to determine the causes of their non-success, are critical to national efforts to both develop and direct appropriate interventions and support to remove the barriers preventing children from learning.
This paper utilizes data from a larger mixed method study of Out of School Children (OOSC) in the eastern Caribbean region to examine the most prevalent issues which inhibit student success, in an effort to support advocacy towards strengthening systems of supports in schools to increase the chances of success for all.