Causes of Student Absenteeism in School

I.
II.
CAUSES OF STUDENT
ABSENTEEISM IN SCHOOL
INTRODUCTION
Absenteeism, according to our

interview. In the context of the
school it is the habitual or
intentional failure from going to
school. It cannot be denied that
every now and then, students may
miss some school activities and
lessons. But it becomes a problem
if the student will be away from
school for many days.
Going to school regularly is
crucially important for a students
education and social skills. Chronic
absentee students are placed at a
disadvantage both socially and
academically. They miss out on
critical stages of social interaction
and development with their peers
and at the same time impacts
negatively on their academic
progress. This can result to low selfesteem, social isolation and
dissatisfaction that could well have
precipitated non-attendance in the
first place.
School absenteeism is an alarming
problem for administrators,
teachers, parents and the society
in general, as well as for the pupils
in particular. Unaccepted absence
has a negative effect on peer
relationship which could cause
absence. According to Malcolm,
Wilson, Davidson and Kirk (2003)
teachers identified effects of
absenteeism on children as:
academic under- achievement,

difficulty in making friends which
could lead to boredom, loss of
confidence. Also, prolonged
absence can have deleterious
effects for the child in later life.
Students who are absent from
school are at the greatest risk of
dropping out of school early.
Absenteeism also affects the
teachers ability present class work
in a sequential and organized way.
This can have an effect on the
progress of all the students
attending the class.
The families of habitual absentees
can also suffer. For a povertystricken family, it may mean a
continuation of the poverty and
unemployment cycle that may run
in the family. This also contributes
to family conflicts.
The society also suffers as the
children of school age hang around
in the streets. They can be found
just gallivanting around. Since they
have nothing to do, they resort to
petty crimes like stealing other
peoples belongings and properties.
Others may resort to drug
addiction and other behavior that is
detrimental to society. Thus, if the
student keeps on being away from
school for too long, he may grow
up to be a liability of his
community and of his country as a
whole.
It is the aim of every school to

lessen, if not eradicate
absenteeism among its students.
One way of addressing this
problem is to identify the causes
why students become truant from
school. Once they are singled out,
understood and analyzed, specific
actions and measures can be
undertaken. This will eventually
redound to the better performance
of the students, teachers and the
school in general.
It is in this context that this action
research was undertaken, that is,
to identify the causes why the
Grade VI students in this school
absent themselves from their
classes.
I.
home work and too many tests and

examinations.
It was recommended that by the
care and concentration of parents,
children can be encouraged to go
to school. Availability of the school
building,
furniture,
adequate
libraries and clean and healthy
environment,
introducing modern methods and
techniques, keeping in view the
interests and needs of the children,
providing financial aid to the
students who are unable to afford
the
educational
expenses,
teachers sympathetic attitude are
factors which can motivate and
attract students towards schools.
Student Absenteeism Whats

the Problem and the Answer?
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Causes of Absenteeism from the

Schools at Secondary Level
All secondary level students of
district
Bannu
constituted
population
of
the
study.100
students who frequently remained
absent from the schools were
conveniently selected as a sample
of the study. Percentages have
been used as statistical technique
to analyze the data. Results of the
study showed that most frequent
causes of the absence of the
students from the schools were
their families participation in social
activities, students help their
parents in their work, too much
Student absenteeism is a serious

issue in public education.
Concerted efforts have been
expended aimed at engaging
students and promoting active
learning, but schools are still full of
clock-watchers Many high
schoolers regularly skip classes
and, according to some inside
reports, the hallways are virtually
empty some Friday afternoons.
A recent report, commissioned by
the Nova Scotia Education
Department, bravely tackles the
chronic issue. The advisory
committee, chaired by Howard
Windsor, Halifaxs former one-man
school board, recommends
extending compulsory school

attendance to age 18/Grade 12 and
a series of staged interventions
for chronic skippers and truants.
Along with those measures, the
committee proposes a range of
inducements to keep students in
school. In extending schooling to
18, Nova Scotia would be following
the lead of Ontario, New Brunswick,
and Nunavut.
Whats my initial response? When
confronted with a growing problem
of absenteeism, Nova Scotia
Education seems to be considering
compulsory engagement until
age 18. With 7.4% of students
missing 20% or more of classes
and 45% absent for 10% of their
classes, its a deeply entrenched
problem. First came the carrot ( the
elementary level behaviour
modification (PEBS) program and
high school exam exemptions),
now we seem to be resorting to the
stick ( compulsory schooling to 18).
What does the education research
say? Student engagement is clearly
more important than attending and
simply occupying classroom seats.
Canadas largest national school
survey, Tell Them from Me,
provided a clearer sense of the
problem and identified the factors
contributing to a sense of
belonging at school. Improving
school and classroom climate are
key to increasing engagement,
says CRISP Director Douglas Willms
(MASS Journal,Fall 2008). Leading
American expert, Deborah Meier
(2002), sees school size as a
critical factor the smaller the

school, the more likely students are
to feel a sense of attachment; the
larger the school, the greater the
potential for standardization,
alienation and absenteeism.
A few critical questions need to be
asked: Why are so many kids
tuning out, skipping or dropping
out in Nova Scotia and elsewhere?
In legislating compulsory high
school attendance, will we be
giving up on making school more
engaging for kids? And more
importantly, will everyone be
graduating?
FACTORS CAUSING STUDENT

ABSENTEEISM ACCORDING TO
PEERS
There are many factors involved in
motivating students to attend
school. Students who are not
motivated, hence,
will usually decide not to be
present in school. Based on several
researches conducted, the rate of
absenteeism
among students increases annually.
As a result, this problem will more
or less adversely affect the schools
reputation. Thus, this study is
conducted to identify factors that
cause students to play truant. A set
of
questionnaire was used to collect

the information needed. The
quantitative data was analyzed
using Statistics
Package for the Social Sciences
(SPSS) to obtain descriptive
statistics indices. The research
findings were duly
discussed.
III.
II.
STATEMENT OF THE
PROBLEM
Possible Causes of Absenteeism
1. Self-supporting pupils
2. Lack of Financial Support
3. Taking Care of Younger Siblings
and do home chores
4. Lack of Parental Support
5. Sickness, health condition and
dental problems
6. Lack of teacher monitoring and
supervision
7. Influence of environmental
factors
PLANS ON HOW TO
CONDUCT THE RESEARCH
If there are stakeholders who could

offer scholarship grants to poor but
deserving pupils there could be no
self-supporting pupils. If the
parents could give support to the
needs of the pupils, they would not
be absent from
school. If the parents will not
request their children to do home
chores and take care of younger
siblings, they could not
miss their classes. If only the
parents could encourage and follow
up their children to go to school,
then they would be
motivated to study. If the pupils
have a regular dental and health
check-ups they could not miss their

classes when not 1 | P a g e
feeling well. If the adviser had set
rules and initiates closer
monitoring and supervision with
them, absences might be
avoided. When the pupils are
guided by their parents, they could
be spared from computer games,
vices and influence
of their peers.
IV.
REFERENCES
https://hubpages.com.
Lurenmurcia, January 8, 2015.
http://www.mcser.org. Gulap
Shahzada, Safdar Rehman Ghazi,
Habib Nawaz, AbdUllah Khan,
January 25, 2015.
https://educhatter.wordpress.com.
Paul W. Bennett, January 30, 2010.
Asmawati Suhid, Ph.D. 1, Abdul

Rahman Md. Aroff, Ph.D. 2,
Norliana Kamal 3. FACTORS
CAUSING STUDENT ABSENTEEISM
ACCORDING TO PEERS.
International Journal of Arts and
Commerce Vol. 1 No. 4 September
2012.

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What are some factors that can cause student absenteeism?

What strategies are proposed to address the problem of student absenteeism?

I.

Absenteeism, according to our

academic under- achievement,

It is the aim of every school to

home work and too many tests and

Student Absenteeism Whats

Causes of Absenteeism from the

Student absenteeism is a serious

extending compulsory school

critical factor the smaller the

FACTORS CAUSING STUDENT

questionnaire was used to collect

If there are stakeholders who could

check-ups they could not miss their

Asmawati Suhid, Ph.D. 1, Abdul

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