Early school leaving is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon that affects most education systems. According to Mazrekaj – De Witte (2020), early school leaving has various undesirable social consequences, such as crime, unemployment, early childbirth, which is why it is necessary to investigate the causes of early school leaving. The aim of the research was the explore the reasons that led the participants to drop out the school. Due the complexity of the problem, we examined parental

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... tance, the relationship with teachers, the class community, and the relationships between variables in school performance, in order to obtain complex answers to the reasons for early school leaving among those already affected. The instrument was filled in N=623 participants. The participation was voluntary and anonymous. The questionnaire included 23 items and background questions (gender, age, education, ethnic). The reliability of the instrument is good (Cronbach-alfa= 0,796). Based on our results, women accounted for the majority of the sample (N=359; M age =35,19; S.D.=12,019). 44.6% of those surveyed who were already affected by school dropout were of Roma origin. Our results also revealed that there is a strong significant correlation (r = 0.778 **) between the positive relationship with teachers and school attachment, so the respondents were influenced by the teachers and their attitudes. We found a strong relationship between peer impact and school performance (r = 0.640 **). Finally, early employment, alleviation of family financial burden, and poor school performance showed a moderately strong correlation (r = 0.542 **), suggesting that young people seeking to restore their family's financial security had poor academic performance, in addition, we found very weak correlation (r = 0.489 **) between poor academic performance and school attachment.