Studyfluence: A solution to guide secondary school children with their educational and career decisions

Abstract

"In recent years, premature student withdrawals from schools after the completion of Ordinary Levels have grown to be a serious issue in Sri Lanka. Despite the nation's efforts to increase the availability of education, many students discontinue their studies before completing them. This trend is more prevalent in rural locations where students can face challenges due to poverty, a lack of resources, and social norms, with other challenges that students might encounter include having to take care of their families, having health issues, and not being interested in the studies. These premature withdrawals may have serious longterm repercussions, such as less career possibilities and limited opportunities for social advancement.

Findings indicate that the issue with many students withdrawing from school after their Ordinary Level exams is due to a great number of them being uncertain about their future academic and professional prospects. Students are frequently left to explore their futures on their own and frequently end up committing to decisions that may have a detrimental influence on their long-term chances since they receive little to no direction. Data gathered from a multitude of academic literature addressing the Sri Lankan education system, its shortcomings, and the perception of academic and career counselling in Sri Lankan society, as well as observations, interviews with stakeholders and experts, and industrial surveys have been used to solidify the problem and understand its root causes.

This project explores this issue in depth and aims to address a solution to the identified problem by designing, developing, and evaluating a system that gives students timely information on relevant academic and professional information and supports them in making wise decisions concerning their professional lives, which is addressed in detail by this research. By analyzing students' interests, preferences, strengths, weaknesses, and other demographics using machine learning algorithms “Studyfluence” will be able to generate customized educational recommendations, which will guide school students in making informed academic and career decisions."