EXAMINATION OF THE CAUSES OF PUPILS’ TRUANCY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS AND ITS EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATION

EXAMINATION OF THE CAUSES OF PUPILS’ TRUANCY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS AND ITS EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATION

CHAPTER ONE

    INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Education has recently been recognized internationally as one of the universal strategies for survival and the enhancement of people’s and society’s well-being. The introduction of formal education is seen as the cornerstone for national growth as well as the most certain way of achieving all long-term goals. For these reasons, families and individuals, particularly youth and children, are putting more emphasis on education today. As a result, no nation, government, organization, or family can have an effective impact and long-term success in their daily operations unless their citizens, officers, and workers have a clear understanding of their obligations, functions, or responsibilities, observe the laws, apply policies, and cooperate in their affairs. The 6-3-3-4 Education System, established in 1982, aimed to provide Universal Basic Education. for citizens in order to breed species of individuals with compassion for our great Nation, having National consciousness with the right attitude to life, properties, and values required to move national development to the next level (Ogbonna, Chinasa, and Onwuchekwa, 2009). However, the federal government of Nigeria’s effort on education has shown a successful and promising return to national progress over the years, providing a vivid promise for the better in the near future. There is no doubt that various issues have presented an unrelenting constraint to the trend of rapid progress in education; for which truancy in both students and teachers in primary and secondary schools has been a cankerworm to education; one of which is truancy. Among primary school students. This has raised a number of concerns about the quality of education and educational administration in Nigerian elementary schools. Huzinga and Thornberry (2000). Truancy is one of the most serious antisocial discipline issues among Nigerian secondary school students. Researchers have paid close attention to the concept and behaviors of indiscipline. According to Peck (2003), various behavioral disorders such as stealing, violence, drug abuse, examination malpractice, sexual abuse, and truancy have undermined effective teaching-learning processes to the point where some teachers have become helpless and disorganized in their task of imparting knowledge to learners. Huzinga and Thornberry (2000). There is no clear definition of truancy. Truancy, according to Oxford Dictionary “is the habit of remaining away from school without permission. A child who is absent

Leaving school without a valid reason is considered truancy. Some authors define truancy as all absences, regardless of the reason. “The truant student is often an unpleasant, worried, and highly sensitive individual who needs to escape from reality,” writes Manroe (1998). He also has a low grade in class and has difficulty interacting with the other students. He avoids these obstacles and, in at least half of the cases, drifts into delinquency”. “The average chronic truant is unhappy at home, unpleasant at school, and ineffective in his class work,” writes Marklund (2002).

Furthermore, the impact of truancy is clear and typically negative on truants’ current and future school lives. Truancy results in a loss of cognitive growth and a lack of motivation. of progress of individual. It also results in low academic achievement at the end of school periods, school terms, and school years. Truancy is regarded as a risk to a student’s school performance and is thought to reduce the quality of education the student receives. It lowers a child’s standard of academic achievement. It causes a drop in educational standards in schools. It increases the number of examination malpractices and poor examination results, both internal and external. Truancy is also a factor that contributes to most people’s idealness, lack of jobs, unemployment, and underemployment, simply because they engaged in the act of Truancy throughout their school days. Nonetheless, the goal of this work is to investigate actual actions.

The causes and consequences of truancy in secondary schools in terms of its impact on the academic achievements of these truants. 2002 (Oehme and Franzke).

1.2 THE PROBLEM’S STATEMENT

The school has been established as a social agent to shape children’s habits, interests, attitudes, and feelings, as well as to transmit societal norms, culture, values, and traditions from one generation to the next. Despite this, some students continue to miss school. According to Ogbonnaya (2013), many of our students are now running away from schools while their parents believe they are attending school classes. While they are not in school, they have the freedom to engage in a variety of juvenile delinquencies such as fighting and drug abuse. This is the situation.

It is extremely concerning in our schools. Truancy, according to Nwaokike (2016), is a problem because students who are absent from school are unable to participate in the various programs that the school provides. Truancy has been linked to lower academic achievement, as well as delinquent and criminal behavior. Truancy has been established as a cog in the wheel of teaching and learning. Against this backdrop, the researchers intend to investigate the causes of truancy among primary school students and its educational implications in order to provide useful recommendations for eradicating the social threats caused by these problems in the system.

1.3 THE STUDY’S OBJECTIVES

The primary goal of this study is to investigate the causes of truancy among primary school students.

Students should be aware of the educational implications. The study specifically seeks to:

i. Determine whether teachers’ attitudes toward students contribute to truancy in students.

ii. Determine whether peer group influence contributes to truancy in our primary school.

iii. Determine whether the pupil’s parents’ freedom causes them to engage in truant behavior.

iv. Determine whether school location and educational facilities increase student involvement in truancy.

1.4 QUESTIONS FOR RESEARCH

The following question guides the research.

i. Does teachers’ attitude toward students contribute to truancy in students?

ii. Does the influence of peer groups contribute to truancy in our primary school?

iii. Does giving the student too much freedom by their parents cause their involvement in

How about truancy?

iv. Do school location and educational facilities increase students’ involvement in truancy?

1.5 THE STUDY’S IMPORTANCE

It is hoped that the findings of this study will be useful to school administrators because they will examine the various causes and consequences of truancy and suggest ways to reduce it, which will serve as a vital tool for effective school administration.

The study will also provide parents with insight into how or why their children engage in truancy. The study will also serve as a resource for students and researchers interested in conducting similar research of this magnitude.

1.6 STUDY OBJECTIVES

The study’s scope is based on the effects of truancy on students’ academic performance.

Primary schools and their educational implications in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area, Abia State, using selected public primary schools.

1.7 THE STUDY’S LIMITATIONS

The researchers encountered minor constraints while conducting the study, as with any human endeavor. The significant constraint was the scarcity of literature on the subject because it is a new discourse, so the researcher incurred more financial expenses and spent more time sourcing for relevant materials, literature, or information and in the data collection process, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited sample size covering only primary schools in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area in Abia State. As a result, the findings of this study cannot be generalized to other states within the United States.

Nigeria. Furthermore, the researcher’s involvement in this study while also working on other academic projects will impede maximum dedication to the research. Nonetheless, despite the constraints encountered during the research, all factors were minimized in order to provide the best results and make the research a success.

1.8 OPERATIONAL TERM DEFINITION

Truancy is the practice of missing school without permission. In other words, it is the act of missing school without a valid reason.

Truant: A child who misses school without permission.

Disobedient means failing to obey or refusing to obey.

Abet: To persuade someone to do something bad.