ABSTRACT
This research work was carried out to
find out the causes of pupils’ truancy in primary schools and its educational
implications for pupils in Esan South-East Local Government Area of Edo
State. To achieve this purpose, four (4)
research questions were raised:
1.
Is there any difference in punctuality between
pupils from good home background and those from poor home background?
2.
Does the attitude of teachers towards pupils
contribute to truancy in pupils?
3.
Is there any difference in behavior between
children in good peer group and those in bad peer-group?
4.
Do pupils from ill-equipped schools play more
truancy than those from well equipped schools?
The population of
this study was taken from five primary schools in Esan South-East Local
Government Area. The sampling of the
five primary schools was done using random sampling technique. The instrument used to collect data was the
questionnaire. Analysis of data
collected was carried out using simple percentage and mean scores.
Recommendations
were made based on the results from the analysis. If the recommendations are considered and
implemented by teachers, parents and educational administrators, it would help
to solve the problems of truancy, lateness and absenteeism in primary schools.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Abstract v
Table of
Contents vii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background
to the Study 1
Statement
of Problem 4
Research
Questions 5
Purpose of
Study 6
Significance
of the Study 6
Scope/Delimitation
of the Study 7
Assumption 7
Limitation
of the Study 8
Definition
of Terms 9
CHAPTER TWO:
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Concept of
Truancy 11
Concept of
Lateness 20
Concept of
Absenteeism 23
The Home 29
The Peer
Group 31
The School 33
The Society 35
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
Research
Design 37
Population 38
Sample and
Sampling Techniques 38
Research
Instrument 39
Validity
and Reliability of the Instrument 39
Administration
of the Instrument 40
Method of
Data Analysis 40
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
Research Question 1 43
Research Question 2 44
Research Question 3 45
Research Question 4 46
CHAPTER FIVE:
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATIONS
AND
SUGGESTION
Summary 48
Findings 49
Conclusion 49
Recommendations 51
Suggestion
for Further Research 53
References 54
Appendix 58
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
The attention and the feelings of
school heads, classroom teachers, parents/guidance, educational administrators,
the governments and National Universities Commission (NUC) have been drawn
towards the irregular school attendance coupled with continuous poor academic
performance of secondary school students.
A major problem facing primary schools
is that of irregular school attendance and continuous poor academic performance
of primary school pupils. In the United
States, each state and District of Columbia have enacted compulsory school
attendance laws that date from the earliest adoption in Massachusetts in 1852
to the latest in Alaska in 1929.
Students who choose not to attend school regularly are in violation of
the law and are, therefore, the focus of many public school systems.
The question now is, is irregular
school attendance the violent destruction of academic performance?
Irregular school attendance is
regarded by Psychologists and Psychiatrists as a sign of disturbance in
students. The assumption is that
assessment should be given to the students by professionals.
Truancy will be viewed from
sociological perspectives. Here it is
based on individual response to occurrences in the school or society.
There is no really specific definition
of truancy. Truancy, according to Oxford
Dictionary “is the practice of staying away from school without
permission. A child who absents himself
from school without good reason is playing truant. Some writers see truancy as all absentees
irrespective of their reasons.
According to Manroe (1998) “the pupil
who plays truancy is generally difficult, anxious and highly sensitive person
who need to escape from reality. He also
has a low status in class and has difficulties in dealing with other people
there. He wanders away from these
difficulties and in at least half the cases drifts into delinquency”.
Marklund (2002) “the typical
persistent truant is unhappy at home, unpopular at school and unsuccessful in
his class work. He is rarely an
articulate critic of contemporary society and its educational values. He is usually a child failing to cope
satisfactory with his difficulties and in need of help”. Healy (1995) regards truancy as the
kindergarten of crime. Truancy is
regarded by psychiatrists as anti-social behavior.
Recently, there was Easter holiday
which started from Friday, 22nd and end on Monday, 25th
March, 2008 which students are expected to resume the next day which is on
Tuesday, 26th March, 2008, but some of the students refuse to resume
at that day of resumption (A case study in the University of Benin). This attitude is seen by some of the students
as carry over from primary and secondary schools, as it is peculiar with the
secondary schools at the beginning of every new term or some days of resumption
after any public holiday.
Truancy in primary schools is not only
peculiar to schools in Edo state but also all over Nigeria and outside Nigeria.
Truancy is currently top of the government’s list of educational issues to be
addressed (“Ken Reid, Swansea Institute of Higher Education, U.K). Truancy is applicable to difficult situation
but here if focus on irregular school attendance and continues poor academic
performances.
Statement of Problem
Different pupils have their peculiar
problems and should be considered on individual bases and help should be given
that suits their particular circumstances.
This has been their overall approach to help late comers, truants and
absentees. Upon this background the
researchers intends to find out the causes of truancy among primary school
pupils and its educational implications with the view of providing useful
suggestion to eradicate the social threats caused by these problems in the
system.
Research Questions
To investigate this research study,
the following specific questions were raised:
1.
Is there any difference in punctuality between
pupils from good home background and those from poor home background?
2.
Does the attitude of teachers towards pupils
contribute to truancy in pupils?
3.
Is there any difference in behavior between
children in good peer group and those in bad peer-group?
4.
Do pupils from ill-equipped schools play more
truancy than those from well equipped schools?
Purpose of Study
The purpose of this research is:
1.
To examine the rate of lateness, truancy and
absenteeism in secondary schools.
2.
To investigate the causes of truancy in primary
schools.
3.
To investigate the effect of truancy on the
academic performance of students.
4.
To find out solutions to control lateness,
truancy and absenteeism.
Significance of the Study
The significance of this research are:
1.
To provide solutions which can assist educators,
parents, educational support services and the government to improve educational
system and reduce the rate of drop out, improve better performance in the
primary schools.
2.
To assist parents to make decisions that will be
useful to improve the child performance in the school and society.
3.
To assist the pupils by providing solution to
their peculiar problem.
This
will help to improve the educational achievements of the new generation of our
society, especially in Esan South-East Local Government Area of Edo State.
Scope/Delimitation of the Study
The study covers some selected primary
schools in Esan South-East Local Government Area of Edo State.
Assumption
There are assumptions that regular
school attendance is the first step to attain higher – intelligence and success
in Education. Truants are always dull in
class and outside school and some of them perform poorly in their class test
and exams.
This research is based on the
following assumptions:
1.
Lack of encouragement from parents causes
truancy.
2.
Too much freedom given to the students by their
parents causes truancy.
3.
Lack of interest in school activities e.g.
labour causes truancy.
4.
Lack of encouragement from teachers and school
heads causes truancy.
5.
Lack of god relationship between teachers and
pupils causes truancy.
6.
The location of the school if too far from home
could cause truancy.
7.
The kind of peer group of the child could cause
truancy.
8.
Lack of educational facilities in schools causes
truancy.
Limitations of the Study
The following limitation could have
implication on the findings.
1.
Financial problem may slower the collection and
communication between the researcher and the clientele.
2.
The major limitation to this research is time
factor.
3.
The number of questionnaires used.
I
hope that these limitations should not have effect on the findings.
Definition of Terms
Clientele: All the clients of an organization.
Delinquency: Bad or criminal behavior.
Deviant: Different from what most people consider to
be normal and acceptable.
Neurotic: Not behaving in a reasonable, calm way,
because you are worried about something.
Phobia: A
strong unreasonable fear or hatred of something.
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