Educational Transformation as a Strategic Solution to Prevent Early Marriage: A Quantitative Study among Senior High School Students

Nurul Hudayanti Mahas 1 Indonesia , Besse Mutmainnah 2 Indonesia , Muhammad Ardi 1 Indonesia , Muh. Nasrullah Yusri 1 Indonesia , Rasma Rasma 1 Indonesia , Afriani Afriani 1 Indonesia , Muhammad Edwin 1 Indonesia , Dewi Marwah 1 Indonesia , Andi B. Daulat Samallangi 1 Indonesia , Andi Lutfia Qalbi 1 Indonesia
1 Universitas Islam As'adiyah Sengkang
2 Universitas Islam As’adiyah Sengkang
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Published 2026-07-06
Vol. 5 No. 4 (2026) PAGES 2223-2233
DOI 10.51574/ijrer.v5i4.4862
Views / Downloads 17 15

Early marriage remains a critical socio-economic and public health challenge in Sidrap Regency, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, severely limiting adolescent development and exacerbating school dropout rates. This study examines the effect of educational transformation—operationalized through digital accessibility, a life-skills-based curriculum, and guidance counseling—as a strategic institutional mechanism to mitigate early marriage among vulnerable youth populations. Utilizing a quantitative approach with a cross-sectional survey design, primary data were gathered from 385 senior high school students aged 15–19 years, who were selected via multi-stage stratified random sampling techniques. Multiple linear regression analysis was applied to evaluate empirical relationships. The results demonstrate that educational transformation significantly enhances adolescents’ early marriage preventive intentions, jointly explaining 54.2% of the variance (R2 = 0.542, p < .001). Guidance counseling emerged as the most dominant predictor (β = 0.441), followed by the life-skills curriculum (β = 0.394) and digital accessibility (β = 0.162). These findings suggest that optimizing institutional support frameworks, particularly school counseling services and integrated reproductive-health literacy, offers the most potent lever for behavior modification. Theoretically, this research bridges educational sociology and macro-social adolescent behaviors. Practically, it provides a robust, data-driven framework for the Sidrap Regency government and educational policymakers to implement targeted, curriculum-based interventions to systematically reduce regional early marriage rates while highlighting the critical need for sustainable multi-sectoral collaborations.

Mahas, N. H., Mutmainnah, B., Ardi, M., Yusri, M. N., Rasma, R., Afriani, A., … Qalbi, A. L. (2026). Educational Transformation as a Strategic Solution to Prevent Early Marriage: A Quantitative Study among Senior High School Students . ETDC: Indonesian Journal of Research and Educational Review , 5(4), 2223–2233. https://doi.org/10.51574/ijrer.v5i4.4862
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Copyright (c) 2026 Nurul Hudayanti Mahas, Besse Mutmainnah, Muhammad Ardi, Muh. Nasrullah Yusri, Rasma Rasma, Afriani Afriani, Muhammad Edwin, Dewi Marwah, Andi B. Daulat Samallangi, Andi Lutfia Qalbi

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Keywords
Adolescents Early Marriage Educational Transformation Guidance Counseling Life-Skills Curriculum