Challenges of Statistics Education That Leads to High Dropout Rate among Undergraduate Statistics Students in Developing Countries

Abstract

Statistics is an important course of study in tertiary education because of its contribution to other disciplines and research works conducted in different areas of human endeavor. However, Statistics education has been severely confronted with several challenges, especially in developing countries. Prominent among these challenges is the alarming increase in the dropout rate among undergraduates of Statistics. To keep the stake higher, Statistics education should be encouraged at all levels to sustain and ultimately improve the quality of research generally. Hence, this chapter discusses some of these challenges and proffer possible solutions in order to increase students’ retention in Statistics programs at the undergraduate level in developing countries.