Abstract:
The purpose of the study was to investigate influence of academic self-efficacy and self-esteem on school dropout intention among junior high school students in the Ahafo Ano South West District of Ghana. All public junior high school students in the Ahafo Ano South West District made up the target population of this investigation. 291 selected form two students from five clusters or circuits comprised the sample size. The quantitative approach using a correlational study design was employed in this study. Questionnaire which was the main instrument for data collection. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as means and standard deviations as well as independent sample t-test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient with the Statistical Package for Service Solution (SPSS). The outcome of this investigation proved that junior high school students in the Ahafo Ano South West District have high levels of academic self-efficacy and self-esteem but low levels when it comes to school dropout intention. This investigation revealed that there was no gender difference in academic self-efficacy, self-esteem and school dropout intention. Furthermore, it was found in the investigation that there was a significant relationship between academic self-efficacy and school dropout intention as well as a significant relationship between self-esteem and school dropout intention among participants used. It was therefore, recommended that teachers and parents who are major stakeholders in the education of students endeavor to help raise the academic self-efficacy and provide students with unconditional support, feeling of safety and emotional attachment to help raise the self-esteem of students since these variables have the potential of impacting the school dropout intention of students.
