Exploring Dropout Reasons of undergraduate Female Students of Virtual University Pakistan

The Virtual University was established in 2002 and it is the first Pakistani University based completely on modern information and communication technologies. The sub campuses are situated in one hundred cities of Pakistan and these campuses are facilitating students to provide infrastructure. The dropout rate is continuously increasing during the last three years. The main objective of the study was to find out the causes of female dropout at undergraduate level. The study was qualitative in nature. A semi structured interview was developed to collect the information. The data was collected from the drop out female students of April, 01, 2015 to March, 30 2016. There were 90 students in all. All the students were enrolled in undergraduate classes and unable to complete their degree. A telephonic interview was conducted and asked them to explain reasons regarding dropout. All the reasons were grouped and five major reasons were identified. The major reasons were: Financial problem, married and unable to continue, time management, unable to understand VU mode of instructions and admitted to another institute. The recommendations were made in the light of findings to minimize the dropout rate of the students.