Academic Failure: Its Causes and Solutions

Today, various educational institutions are seeking to develop educational curricula that work to prepare competent generations who possess mental and psychological capabilities, as well as life skills, according to organized scientific standards that make individuals able to live in this era, which is described as an era of changes and rapid progress.

However, one of the most critical problems these institutions face in achieving their goals is the problem of academic failure, from which many students of all ages and specializations suffer. To confront this problem as it drains energies, wastes money, and represents a heavy burden on the economy of countries as well, it is necessary to understand what it is, determine its causes, and know the solutions that can be proposed to save the student from it.

What is the concept of academic failure  (instructional)?

Many students in universities and middle and higher institutes suffer from academic failure, manifested in low results, low levels of achievement, dropouts, aggressive behavior of some students, and non-participation in university activities, in addition to other manifestations. Academic failure is called by other terms such as educational loss or educational waste, which UNESCO organization said relates to students who do not finish their studies within the specified years; This is either because they leave the study permanently or fail the year and repeat it.

So, academic failure represents the intellectual, educational, and financial efforts made by educational institutions with all their human components, such as faculty and administrative staff members, and material ones, such as buildings, equipment, and educational means necessary for the academic process, without achieving its objectives that were fully set, whether in terms of quantity or qualitative characteristics of students.

As a result that we can reach, academic failure is linked to two primary dimensions:

1. Dropout

It is the student's interruption of studies before the completion of the years designated for obtaining the certificate.

2. Failing

It is the failure to pass the exam scheduled for the academic year and pass it to transfer to the next year or graduate and finish the study as scheduled at the appropriate time and specified for completion.

Forms of academic failure

1. General academic failure

means the students fail in all the courses they are tested, that is, the entire exam, which ends with failure in the academic year.

2. Partial failure

is the failure to succeed in some courses only.

3. Accidental failure

is the failure in a specific exam, excluding other exams, due to a sudden accident, such as a health problem, such as illness during the exam days, or a personal problem, and it ends with the end of the cause.

The reasons for academic failure

1. The social climate within the educational institution

The impact of the prevailing social climate within the educational institution and the classroom itself is highlighted by:

• The prevailing atmosphere of bad social relations between students is characterized by aggression. It is one of the most important reasons for learning.
• There is a state of intense competition among students that leads to aggressive behavior in an attempt to show personal superiority over others.
• A difference in ages within the same class due to cases of failure, repetition, and transfer between majors in some universities, which lead to differences in mental and physical powers. Some of them exploit that power to impose control over other students. This creates a tense atmosphere among them, leading to an aversion to education.
• Incompatibility with the administration of the educational institution and the sense of weakness of the student's position in the place.
• The student is under pressure due to many subjects and courses and the need for more time allotted for study.
• The style of education used in teaching that fails to communicate information to the student and achieve the desired benefit for them, such as the method of group education, not allocating the necessary time for each student, and taking into account individual differences in understanding the information, so the student feels helpless and unwilling to take the exam and stay away from the study.
• Inadequate physical conditions in the learning place and lecture halls for students, such as lighting, ventilation, noise, the large number in one hall, and others.

2. Student factors

The most important of these factors:

Student intelligence

A student with a high IQ is more capable of understanding, analyzing, and perceiving, unlike a student with a low IQ, which leads to low results that lead to academic failure.

The student’s health status

such as accidental or chronic diseases during the academic year or the examination period. This leads to their failure to pursue their studies and obtaining poor exam results.

The student's psychological state

such as the intense fear of the exam and constant anxiety and tension, affects their general achievement.

The student's attitudes towards the subject teacher

The teacher's hatred leads them to hate the subject and then their inability to study it.

The student’s problems

such as going through family, emotional, or financial troubles that drain their energy, and they cannot continue their studies as required.

3. Personal characteristics of the student

The most important of these characteristics:

• Lack of desire, inclinations, or motivation to study a specific major, and the student enters it compulsorily.
• The student needs more will or weakness to pursue educational attainment.
• Students' failure to adapt to the general academic climate causes them to miss work hours.
• Lack of self-responsibility, such as studying the student to meet the desires of others only and not for themselves.
• The student's lack of self-confidence and the weak ability to face the problems and difficulties they encounter during their studies.
• The student is affected by the temptations of the age that keep them away from studying, such as social media.
• Student repeating for the academic year. Sometimes, the rest of the students and even the teachers exert psychological pressure on them, causing them imbalance, discomfort, and anxiety. This pushes them to drop out of study altogether.
• Not wanting to put in the effort to prepare for the exam well.
• The student needs to follow better study strategies.

4. Family reasons

Such as the problems that many families suffer from, which negatively affect the results of their children’s achievement, and the cultural level of the parents plays an important role in encouraging children to achieve academic achievement, as well as the economic level of the family and the ability to secure the student’s study requirements such as books and equipment such as computers and others that help them in achieving.

5. Regulatory reasons related to educational institutions

Such as the quality of the imposed regulations, the manner of dress, the pattern of examinations, orders and directions that are sometimes exaggerated, which make the student fall into psychological disorders and ultimately lead them to academic failure.

How can we face the problem of academic failure among students?

It should be noted that academic failure is primarily a human failure;therefore, it can be avoided by understanding and analyzing the related problems, and planning well to solve them to bring the individual to a decent level of knowledge.

Among the suggested solutions:

1. Discover students' tendencies, desires, and any majors they like, and link them to specific, realistic goals to push the student towards achievement.
2. Link education to society and its requirements. Prepare educational programs that are compatible with the nature and culture of our society, as it is known that what is suitable for a certain society is not necessarily suitable for all societies.
3. Encourage activities outside the teaching framework, as these activities push towards cooperation between students on the one hand and between students, teachers, and administration on the other hand, so an appropriate social climate prevails that pushes the student towards increasing academic achievement.
4. Consider individual differences between students by the school and faculty members.
5. Push the student to accept that academic failure exists and is a possible issue during their academic career. Success is not a straight line free of obstacles; they must be pushed and motivated to do more to overcome these obstacles and complete the path of knowledge and academic achievement.
6. Work to enhance the student's self-confidence and their scientific and mental abilities, and the need to direct them to invest them optimally.
7. Secure the ideal study environment using tools and equipment such as lighting, ventilation, cold and hot air conditioning, and sufficient and spaced seating spaces.
8. Provide supportive activities to enhance social relations and cooperation among students to create a comfortable atmosphere of interaction between them and to avoid aggressive behavior that may occur among them.
9. Adopt stimulating teaching and learning methods for students, moving away from traditional methods that cause boredom and directing teachers to the correct study strategies for each subject.
10. Push the student to visit a psychologist when noticing that they suffer from certain mental illnesses or exam anxiety that prevents them from obtaining satisfactory results commensurate with their effort.
11. Do not compare students with each other. Rather, the student must be dealt with as an isolated case in itself to preserve their psychological well-being and keep them away from feeling helpless and inferior.
12. Help the student to learn various life skills, such as communication skills, time management, critical thinking skills, problem analysis, cooperation and teamwork, and other skills, in addition to making them realize the importance of education and academic achievement in changing their life path.

In conclusion

Academic failure is a human phenomenon and an educational problem with many causes. There is no single, radical, and magical solution to end it.

Rather, it is a problem that needs a deep analysis of the reasons and the parties behind it, in addition to the cooperation and concerted efforts of the various parties involved in the educational process to achieve good student achievement.