Purpose

This study investigated the trends of repetition and dropout rates in Myanmar's lower secondary education before and after the introduction of the “Continuous Assessment and Progression System (CAPS)” and probed the dependence of these tendencies on high-, middle- and low- socioeconomic status (SES). The obtained results were then examined to extract effective policy implications for the achievement of universal secondary education as specified in the Sustainable Development Goals.

Design/methodology/approach

Before and after the CAPS introduction at four government secondary schools, grade repetition and dropout rate trends were examined with respect to differences in students' SES. The analysis utilised a sample of 7,272 students from target secondary schools in urban Yangon Region, Myanmar.

Findings

It was found that since the introduction of CAPS, the grade repetition rates had fallen significantly in all SES groups, so was effective regardless of students' SES. The results also demonstrated the influence of unequal CAPS on dropout rates: in the middle-SES group, significant falls to nearly zero post-CAPS implementation. The high-SES group was at ceiling pre- and post-CAPS, so was unaffected. However, in the low-SES group, high dropout rates persisted, indicating that the poor socioeconomic backgrounds of these students significantly reduced the benefits of CAPS.

Originality/value

Rather than using cross-sectional data such as education statistics, this study used longitudinal data based on academic enrollment registries that included information on individual enrollment statuses, which allowed for the relationships between grade repetition, school dropout, education policies and socioeconomic circumstances to be elucidated.

中文翻译：

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缅甸初中教育的社会经济地位 (SES) 和“持续评估和进步系统 (CAPS)”的好处

目的

本研究调查了引入“持续评估和进步系统（CAPS）”前后缅甸初中教育的留级率和辍学率趋势，并探讨了这些趋势对高、中、低社会经济地位的依赖性(SES)。然后对获得的结果进行检查，以提取对实现可持续发展目标中规定的普及中等教育的有效政策影响。

设计/方法/方法

在四所官立中学引入 CAPS 前后，根据学生 SES 的差异，研究了留级率和辍学率趋势。该分析使用了来自缅甸仰光市区目标中学的 7,272 名学生的样本。

发现

结果发现，自从引入 CAPS 以来，所有 SES 组的留级率都显着下降，因此无论学生的 SES 如何都有效。结果还证明了不等的 CAPS 对辍学率的影响：在中等 SES 组中，在 CAPS 实施后显着下降到几乎为零。高 SES 组在 CAPS 前后都处于上限，因此不受影响。然而，在低 SES 组中，高辍学率持续存在，表明这些学生较差的社会经济背景显着降低了 CAPS 的好处。

原创性/价值

本研究没有使用教育统计等横断面数据，而是使用基于学术注册登记的纵向数据，其中包括个人入学状况的信息，从而可以阐明留级、辍学、教育政策和社会经济环境之间的关系.