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© Proceedings of the Ruhuna Quality Assurance Sessions 2021 (RUQAS 2021)
st
21 September 2021

MC4
- Development of an Early Warning System to Detect the Undergraduate Dropout at the

Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna

1
1
2
T.W.M.K.K. Weerasinghe *, W.M.C.J. Wijekoon and G.C. Samaraweera
1 Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna,Mapalana,
Kamburupitiya
2 Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Mapalana, Kamburupitiya

*Corresponding author: kalpanie.weerasinghe@gmail.com

Abstract

Student dropout is a critical issue related to the higher educational systems in the world. Among Sri

Lankan universities also, student dropout has become a vital issue. Student dropout rate at the Faculty
of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna is considerably high and there is no mechanism to identify

possible dropouts in advance. The objective of this concept paper is to propose an Early Warning

System to detect the undergraduate dropout at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna. The
proposed system would provide explicit pre-awareness regarding dropout-prone candidates and help

the faculty to take appropriate measures to reduce the dropout rate determining the best ways to
minimise the number of dropouts.

Keywords: Higher Education System, Early Warning System, Sri Lankan Universities, University

Dropouts

Introduction

Education is considered the foundation for the development and wellbeing of a society and therefore,

the students are considered the most valuable fundamental asset of an education institute. A strong
higher education system is a significant contributor to the country’s ability to compete in the global

marketplace and is critical to our economic strength, social well-being, and position as a world leader.
As per (Bungǎu et al., 2017),“the goal of higher education is identical with those of education: the

development of an informed, responsible citizenry and the preparation of every boy and girl for a

personally satisfying and socially useful career”.

Higher educational institutes including universities are complex organizations facing difficult and
multifaceted challenges. According to literature, student dropout has become a distressing issue faced

by both Sri Lankan universities and universities worldwide in the current challenging and dynamic

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