Addressing School Dropout in Vulnerable Areas: Insight and Key Findings from a Meta-Analysis

This contribution presents the findings of a meta-analysis conducted to determine whether, and to what extent, catastrophic events influence school dropout rates. The research reveals that destructive events, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods, disrupt learning environments, heightening stress and increasing the risk of dropout among students, particularly in low-income and disaster-affected areas. School closures resulting from these disasters have a detrimental effect on academic per formance, disproportionately impacting students who were already vul nerable or at risk, leading to higher dropout rates. The study also indicates that different types of disasters—geological and climatic—have varying effects on dropout rates. Climate-related disasters, such as droughts, can hinder education by over 40% in some cases and signifi cantly increase early school leaving, particularly among young women and at-risk students. These findings highlight the urgent need for tar geted interventions and support systems to counteract the adverse im pacts of natural disasters on education.