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 diicult, 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 antisocial 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
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