This paper explores the dropout experience of children who dropped out of schools located in two rural communities1 in the Central Region of Ghana. The main research question sought to explore the meaning and types of drop out founded onthe viewsof children who had dropped out of school. The study tracked 18 children aged 7–17 years. Snowball sampling was employed to identify participants of the study. Data was collected from children and significant others2 using in-depth interviews. Using CREATE’s analytical framework of zones of exclusion, this paper identify five type of school dropouts and argues that policies to prevent dropout and encourage drop-in requires specific rather than general targeting.