According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, absenteeism is "chronic absence.

" In the context of

school, it is the habitual or intentional failure to attend school. While every student may miss
some school activities now and then, absence becomes a problem when the student is away from
school for many days.

Going to school regularly is crucially important for a student’s education and social skills.
Chronically absent students are at a disadvantage both socially and academically. They miss out
on critical stages of social interaction and development with their peers, while simultaneously
limiting their academic progress. This can result in low self-esteem, 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, society in

general, and pupils in particular. Unaccepted absences have a negative effect on peer
relationships, which can cause further absences. According to Malcolm, Wilson, Davidson and
Kirk (2003) teachers identified the effects of absenteeism on children as:

 academic under-achievement.
 difficulty in making friends which could lead to boredom and loss of confidence.
 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 teacher’s ability to present classwork in a sequential and organized
way. This can have an effect on the progress of all the students in the class.

Families of habitually absent students can also suffer. For a poverty-stricken family, it may mean
a continuation of the poverty and unemployment cycle that may run in the family. This also
contributes to family conflicts.

Society also suffers when school-age children are not in school. These children may hang out on
the streets. Since they have nothing to do, they resort to petty crimes like stealing other people’s
belongings and property. Others may become addicted to drugs or engage in other destructive
behavior. Thus, if a student keeps away from school for too long, he may grow up to be a
liability to his community and 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 of truancy. Once they are singled out,
understood, and analyzed, these issues may be addressed with specific actions and measures.
This will eventually result in 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.

This action research examined the causes of absenteeism among grade VI students of Zapote
Elementary School during the 2010-2011 school year. This class had the most daily absences
while in grade V. This data was gathered from the daily attendance record that is kept by the
teacher-leader’s office every day and regularly filled out by grade level teachers.

Once the students entered grade VI, some of them were still frequent absentees. It is for this
reason that this research was undertaken. It has the goal of understanding and correcting such
undesirable pupil behavior. Based on the findings, methods and strategies were recommended to
minimize, if not eradicate absenteeism or truancy.
Scope and Methodology
All of the sixty grade VI pupils were asked to complete a questionnaire. They rated various
situations, reasons, and causes for being absent from school.

All the the data was then organized, tallied, tabulated, and presented in a series of tables and
graphs. Frequency counts, percentage weight values and weighted mean were used in the
analysis and interpretation of data.

The responses were analyzed using a five-point Likert scale with the following equivalent:

 1. never
 2. rarely
 3. sometimes
 4. very often
 5. always

It should be noted that the questionnaire was given to students in their native dialect to increase
the chance of accurate responses.

Figures were rounded signify classification of responses. The measure of central tendency,
specifically the mean, was used to determine the average value of response or response average
of the pupils.

Study Questionnaire: What Are the Most Common Causes

of Absenteeism?
Teacher-
Personal Classroom
Physical Factors Related Home Factors
Attitude Environment
Reasons
I am not Our classroom is
house is too far from My teacher My parents told
interested in my hot and
school scolded me. me to be absent.
studies. uncomfortable.
I can't
it is unsafe to go to understand my It's noisy in our My parents
I feel lazy.
school teacher's classroom. quarreled.
lessons.
no one accompanies me My parents
My friends tell I don't like my Classmates bully
to school because of don't care about
me to be absent. teacher. me.
distance my studies.
health factors
I can't I do too many
(toothache, stomach I have no friends in
concentrate on household
ache, headache, my class.
my studies chores.
fever/flu, diarrhea
I have no
I didn't wake up money to buy
in time. snacks at
school.
I did not study We have no
or do my food. I did not
homework. eat.
I was playing
computer
games.

Findings
A. Physical Factors
Among the items cited, the distance of their house to the school and the danger posed by walking
to the school has the same response average, or a mean of 1.04. This means that both are not
reasons for them to be absent from school.

B. Health

Fever/flu is the most common reason of students for being absent. It has the highest response
average of 2.4. It is followed by headache, with an average response of 1.67. Other diseases like
diarrhea come in third with 1.61 average responses. The least common reason for them for being
absent is stomach ache, with 1.39 averages.

C. Personal Attitude

That the student doesn’t wake up early enough is the most common reason why he/she is absent.
This account for 1.91 mean. Another reason commonly cited is that they can’t concentrate on
their studies and that they were not able to study their lessons. This resulted from 1.45 and 1.37
mean respectively. Feeling lazy and playing computer games also keep them away from school.
The former has a response average of 1.26 while the latter has 1.22.

D. Teacher-related

When the students are scolded for their bad behavior by the teacher, this tends to make them be
absent from their classes. It has the highest average response of 1.38 while the reason that they
can’t understand their lessons follow close behind with 1.32 mean.

E. Classroom Atmosphere

The highest mean of 1.77 was accorded to noise inside the classroom which means that this is the
primary reason why they tend to be truant. Bullying by fellow students follows with 1.39
response average.

F. Home-related

Students who say their parents asked them to be absent resulted in the highest mean of 1.52.
Household chores come second with a response average of 1.47. The other reasons ranged from
1.08 to 1.39, including not having money to spend for snacks and other small expenses in school,
no breakfast/food, and that their parents quarreled.

The response average or the mean was computed by multiplying the percentage of responses by
the equivalent value of each frequency and then adding them all.

e.g.(5 x 0%) + (4 x 3%) + (3 x 13%) + (2 x 7%) + (1 x 77%) = 1.42

Conclusions
 Among all the causes presented, health is the primary reason why students are absent
from their classes. Flu/fever is the leading culprit in this category. Oral health, which
according to the Department of Education is the main reason why pupils are absent, is
just third among the reasons cited by the responding students.
 Classroom atmosphere, personal attitude, teacher factor and home-related reasons follow
in that order. The least reason they give is related to their physical environment.

Of all the factors/categories cited, the top 10 reasons of student absenteeism are as follows:

1) Flu/fever

2) Can’t wake up early

3) Noise inside the classroom

4) Headache
5) Other diseases such as diarrhea

6) Parents asking them to be absent

7) Preoccupation with household chores

8.3) Toothache

8.3) No money to buy snacks in school

8.3) Bullied by a classmate/classmates

Frequency of Responses
Always Very Sometimes Rarely Never
(5) Often (4) (3) (2) (1)
A. Physical Factor
1. Our house is far from the school. 0 0 1 0 59
2. It is unsafe to go to school. 0 0 1 0 59
3. Nobody accompanies me in going to
0 0 0 0 60
school since it is far.
B. Health
1. I have a toothache. 0 2 8 4 46
2. My stomach hurts. 0 0 10 4 46
3. I have a headache 0 1 14 9 36
4. I'm down with fever/flu. 0 5 22 25 8
5. I have other diseases like diarrhea, etc. 0 1 9 15 35
C.Personal Attitude
1. I am not interested in my studies. 0 0 0 0 60
2. I feel lazy. 0 0 5 6 49
3. My friends influence me to be absent
0 0 2 1 57
from my classes.
4. I can't concentrate in my studies. 0 0 9 9 42
5. I didn't wake up early. 0 5 16 8 31
6. I did not study/make my assignments
0 2 5 7 46
the night before.
7. I got fond of playing computer games. 0 1 5 0 54
D. Teacher-Related Factors
1. My teacher scolded me. 0 1 6 7 46
2. I can't understand my teacher's lessons. 0 0 7 5 48
3. I don't like my teacher. 0 0 0 0 60
E. Classroom atmosphere
1.Our classroom is hot and
0 0 4 1 55
uncomfortable.
2. It's noisy inside our classroom. 4 5 6 3 42
3. A classmate/classmates bully me. 0 1 8 4 47
4. I have no friends in our class. 0 0 0 0 60
F. Home-Related Factors
1. My parents ask me to be absent from
0 0 10 11 39
class.
2. My parents quarreled. 0 0 2 1 57
3. My parents don't care about my
0 0 1 1 58
studies.
 Always Very Sometimes Rarely Never
(5) Often (4) (3) (2) (1)
4. I'm too pre-occupied with household
1 3 5 5 47
chores.
5. I have no money to buy snacks in
0 1 8 4 47
school.
6. We have no food/I did not eat. 0 0 7 4 59

What Strategies Can Minimize or Eradicate Absenteeism?

In order to limit or eliminate absenteeism, it is recommended that educators:

1. educate the students on how to take care of their overall well-being. Emphasis should
be given to oral health and overall body wellness. Teach them how to avoid
communicable diseases. Give them information on how to properly wash their hands,
which is the main source of germs and bacteria among children. Let them develop proper
eating habits. Since most of the children in the school come from poor families, point out
to them the cheap but healthy foods. Ask them to pass on this information to their
parents.
2. ensure that classroom atmosphere is conducive to learning. Noise-reduction among
students should be a priority. Older children, like grade VI students, tend to have louder
voices so they should be taught how to speak softly and without needing to shout. The
key here is discipline.The teacher must also see to it that the students are comfortable and
have no other concerns except the lesson at hand. There should be a lively interaction
between the teacher and the students, but the teacher should see to it that noise is
modulated so as not to distract pupils from their learning.
3. inform parents about the benefit of keeping their children in school. Emphasize to
them that if they keep on asking their children to be absent, this will set a bad example to
the child. If the parents themselves are keeping the child away from school, they must
believe that household concerns are more important than their education.
4. refrain from scolding misbehaving pupils. As much as possible, remind them of their
wrong doing in a most diplomatic manner. Self-control should be a virtue which the
teacher should practice in the course of her teaching everyday of the school week.
5. give extra attention to those who are left behind in the lessons. Tap the bright pupils
to teach their slower classmates. In other words, cooperative learning should be practiced
in the teaching-learning process. Once a slow student fully understands the lesson, he/she
can keep up with his/her other classmates, thus self-confidence is gained.
6. emphasize that academic success is very much dependent on student attitude
towards school. Motivate them so they will be looking forward to attending their classes
regularly. For those who wake up late, encourage them to get an alarm clock. Do not
scold the pupils who come late. Give them a time-table to change their sleeping habits
and to study before bed instead of watching TV.

Do you agree with my findings that the number 1 cause of

student absenteeism is health factor?
 Yes
 No

See results

Absenteeism and Dropping Out

I would like to caution all the parents out there: You may or may not know that your children are
always absent from school. One of the rules I implement in my class is to require an excuse from
a parent or guardian for every child's absence. Many of them comply, but some students get
other people to write an excuse letter for them. When this happens, I call on the parents and let
them know about it. It is only then that they become aware of the child’s absence from my class.
Wwhen they found out about it, some of them scold their child in front of me. This gives me an
insight into my student’s life at home.

But the most disturbing thing is that habitually absent students eventually drop out of my class.
This happens to all my colleagues. We do our best to prevent drop-outs, but it is beyond our
control. We can only hope that these students will come back the next year, change their ways,
and that that whatever was hindering their studies is behind them.

Student absenteeism
Advertisement

Advertisement

Related


hubpages.com

How to Get Your Teacher to Like You

by Jule Romans3

hubpages.com

What American Schools Could Learn From the French School System

by Sarah3

Teaching

Teachers Rule—Top Ten Pranks to Pull on Students

 by gmarquardt15

hubpages.com

Action Research Proposal: Mathematics Problem-Solving Skill And

Reading Comprehension

by lorenmurcia9