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

CHAPTER ONE

    INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In recent times, education has been acknowledged internationally as one of the universal strategies of survival and enhancement of the well-being of people and society. The arrival of formal education is seen as the cornerstone for national growth as well as the surest means of accomplishing all long life achievements. For these reasons, families and individuals notably the youth and children today devote more attention to education. Consequently no nation, government, organization or family makes effective impact and lasting successes in their daily affairs without having educated citizens, officers, workers who had clearer understanding of their obligations, functions or responsibilities, observe the laws, apply policies and co-operate in its affairs. The 6-3-3-4 System of Education established in 1982 was aimed at providing Universal Basic Education for the 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 effort put by the federal government of Nigeria on education has throughout the years shown a successful and promising return to national progress providing a vivid promise for the better in the immediate future. It is of no question that various issues have presented unrelenting constraint to the trend of the quick progress in education; for which truancy in both student and instructors in primary and secondary schools has been a cankerworm to education of which one of them is truancy among primary school learner. This has brought various issues regarding the quality of education and educational administration in Nigerian elementary Schools. (Huzinga & Thornberry, 2000). Truancy is one of the biggest antisocial discipline concerns among secondary school pupils in Nigeria. The notion and behaviors of indiscipline have attracted a lot of attention by researchers. Peck (2003) opined that the various behavioural disorders like stealing, violence, drug abuse, examination malpractice, sexual abuse and truancy have so undermined effective teaching-learning processes that some teachers have become helpless and disorganized in their task of impacting knowledge to the learners. (Huzinga & Thornberry, 2000). here is no very defined definition of truancy. Truancy, according to Oxford Dictionary “is the habit of remaining away from school without permission. A youngster who absents himself from school without sufficient reason is playing truant. Some writers consider truancy as all absentees irrespective of their causes. According to Manroe (1998) “the pupil who plays truancy is often unpleasant, worried and highly sensitive individual who need to escape from reality. He also has a poor standing in class and has issues in dealing with other individuals there. He wanders away from these obstacles and in at least half the instances drifts towards delinquency”. Marklund (2002) “the average chronic truant is unhappy at home, unpleasant at school and ineffective in his class work.

Furthermore, the consequence of truancy is quite clear and typically a negative one on Truants’ present and future life in school. Truancy leads in loss of cognitive growth and lack of progress of individual. Also, it leads to low academic achievement at the conclusion of the school periods, school terms and school year. Truancy as a danger to school performance of the student is regarded to impair the quality of education the student obtains. It decreases the standard of academic attainment of a youngster. It leads to the decrease of educational standard in schools. It raises the rate of examination malpractices and bad examination results of both internal and external examinations. Truancy is also a factor that leads to idealness, lack of jobs, unemployment and underemployment of most people today, only because they engaged in the act of Truancy throughout their school days. Nevertheless, the purpose of this work is to explore the real actions, causes, and the repercussions of Truancy in Secondary Schools visà-vis its influence on the academic achievements of these truants. (Oehme and Franzke, 2002).

1.2    STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

            The school has been established as the agent of the society to mould the habits, interest, attitudes and feelings of children and transmit the societal norms, culture, values and traditions from one generation to another. Despite this, some students still do not attend school classes. As observed by Ogbonnaya (2013) Many of our pupil now run away from schools while in many of the cases, the parents believe they are attending school classes. While they are away from school, they exercise freedom in engaging in a lot of juvenile delinquencies like fighting and drug abuse. This situation in our schools is highly worrisome. Nwaokike (2016) lamented that truancy is a problem because when the pupil is the absent from the classroom they  cannot benefit from the various programmes that the school offers. Effects of truancy have been reported to include lower academic achievements, delinquent and criminal activities. It has been established that truancy is cog in the wheel of teaching learning. 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.

1.3    OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The primary objective of this study is to examine the causes of truancy among primary school pupils  its educational implications. Specifically, the study seeks to:

i.          Determine whether the attitude of teachers towards pupils contribute to truancy in pupils.

ii.        Ascertain whether peer group influence contribute to the act of truancy in our Primary school.

iii.      Investigate if freedom given to the pupil  by their parents causes their engagement in  truant behaviors.

iv.      Establish whether school location and education facilities deepens pupil involvement in truancy.

1.4    RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research is guided by the following question.

i.          Does the attitude of teachers towards pupils contribute to truancy in pupils?

ii.        Does the peer group influence contribute to the act of truancy in our Primary school?

iii.      Does too much freedom given to the pupil  by their parents causes their engagement in  truant behaviors?

iv.      Does school location and education facilities deepens pupil’s involvement in truancy?

1.5    SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is hoped that the result of this study will be useful to school administrators, as the study will examine the various causes and consequences of truancy and state the ways of curbing it which will serve as a vital instrument for effective school administration.

            The study will also give parents insight on how or why their wards engage in truancy. The study will also serve as reference point for students or researchers wising to embark on similar research of this magnitude.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study is based on the effects of truancy on the academic performance of pupils in Primary schools and its educational implication using selected public primary schools  in  Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area in Abia State.    

1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Like in every human endeavour, the researchers encountered slight constraints while carrying out the study. The significant constraint was the scanty literature on the subject owing that it is a new discourse thus the researcher incurred more financial expenses and much time was required in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited choice of sample size covering only primary schools  in  Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area in Abia State. Thus findings of this study cannot be used for generalization for other states within Nigeria. Additionally, the researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work will impede maximum devotion to the research. Howbeit, despite the constraint  encountered during the  research, all factors were downplayed in other to give the best and make the research successful.

1.8 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

Truancy: The practice of staying away from school without permission. In other words, it is the act of staying away from school without a reasonable excuse.

Truant: A child who stays away from schools without permission.

Disobedient: failing or refusing to obey.

Abet: To encourage somebody to do something wrong.