ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to
find out the influence of truancy on the academic performance of secondary
school students in Nsukka local government area, Enugu state. The design of the
study was descriptive survey. The target population for the study consisted of
thirty one (31) public secondary schools with 18,011 students in Nsukka Local
Government Area of Enugu state. The schools selected for the study were sampled
using random sampling techniques. Five public secondary schools out of the
thirty one (31) public secondary schools in Nsukka Local Government Area were
sampled to give a fair representation of the schools in the local government
area. 110 male and 90 female students were selected from the secondary schools
in the sample consequently, the students were selected from each of the five
(5) sampled public secondary schools hence the sample size of male and female
students’ selected is 200. The research made use of a questionnaire for data
collection. The instrument was face validated and was subjected to reliability
test using t-test to obtain a coefficient of 0.89. Mean score were used to
analyze the data collected. One of the findings of this study showed that
truancy affected the academic performance of secondary school students
negatively to a very high extent. This therefore implies that for students to
achieve their educational goals there is need for them to abstain from truancy
and absenteeism. This therefore calls for more devotion to teaching profession on
the part of the teachers. Finally the study recommended among others that the school authorities should be strict on
their rules and regulations, especially as it pertains to school attendance of
students and truancy.
TABLE OF CONTENT
TITLE PAGE
TABLE OF CONTENT
ABSTRACT
CHAPTER
ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Statement of the Problem
Purpose of the Study
Significance of the Study
Scope of the Study
Research Questions
CHAPTER
TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Conceptual Framework
Theoretical Framework
Empirical Studies
Summary of Literature Review
CHAPTER
THREE: RESEARCH METHODS
Research Design
Area of the Study
Population of the Study
Sample Techniques and Size
Instrument for data Collection
Validity of Instrument
Reliability of Instrument
Method of Data Collection
Method of Data Analysis
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS
Presentation
of Data
CHAPTER FIVE:
DISCUSSION, SUMMARY AND
RECOMMENDATION
Discussion
of Findings
Conclusion
Implication of the Study
Recommendations
Limitations
of the study
Suggestion
for further Studies
Summary of
the Study
References
Appendices
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background
to the Study
Education is a combination of deliberate and purposeful
acts and activities with formative and intervention effect on the behavior and
character of an individual. In its technical sense, education is the process by
which a society consciously transmits its accumulated stock of knowledge;
skills and intentional effort usually focus in part on character development,
behavior modification and value’s orientation especially among the youths of
the nation. However, in recent times, there are unintentional, visible and not
so visible distortions and aberrations in the character and behavior of the
youths which are reflected in the pattern of student’ classroom behavior. If
unchecked, such behavior may constitute impediments to meaningful classroom
learning, school growth and development. Prominent among such despicable
behavior is truancy among secondary school students. Truancy is not a new
problem but historically, present problem that has over the last decades
received new found attention as the lack of school attendance and its link with
student delinquency has become more clearly identified.
Truancy is a product of combinations of social, economic
and attitudinal factors which invariably reflect in students’ academic
performances and challenges the competence and resources of school counselors (Anima
Sahun, 2003). It is noted that student who stay away from school without
permission will not only be left out in the learning process but they may also
probably end up engaging in antisocial behavior such as drug abuse, gangsterism,
bullying, alcohol consumption, free and unregulated sex, gambling and loitering
with their negative consequences and experience. Further, playing truant is a
discipline problem with strong challenge to the resources, facilities and
expertise on the school counseling services and its curricular structure
(Nawaz, 2005).
It is a system which attaches little importance to
individuality. The ways in which children exhibit their truancy are many. An
example can be cited in Okutu, Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu state
where students’ usually go to the bush to search for snails, killing rabbits
and collecting fruits, going to hidden places without any purpose. Some find
their way to the river to swim while others engage in petty jobs to get money
for buying snacks, minerals, ice cream etc. some even engage in secret love
that always make them to leave the school premises. There are some students’
who cannot bear or remain in corrective atmosphere at home or in the school,
such student will have to explore other places to relax and satisfy their
curiosity. Obviously, such students’ will be truants in the school.
A truant can also be described as the person that stays
away from school without good reasons. He or she is irregular at school
attendance for he finds other places more attractive than that school. It
stands that truancy is one of the offences which students in institutions of
learning commit. From research work carried out it was discovered that truancy
is of varying degree institutions of learning and it is comparatively greater
in the secondary schools than the high institutions of learning.
In the secondary schools, truants can be labeled as poverty
prone and at risk students who are faced with a number of educational
challenges which require the building of counselor’s professional capacity to
prevent its negative consequences to students and learning. Usually some students’
have high rate of absenteeism, poor academic performance, adjustment problems,
lack of interest in schools and poor attitude to school work and learning. Such
students’ need the assistance of professional counselors so as to cope with the
academic and social problems and challenges associated with schooling. The
persistence and grooving phenomenon of truancy among secondary school students
suggest the need to build the professional capacity of school counselors so as
to mitigate the negative effects of truancy among secondary school students.
The magnitude or prevalence of truancy remains a factor yet to be thoroughly
examined among secondary school students. Related to the prevalence of truancy
are factors suspected to predispose students to truancy. Previous studies
(Gesinde, 2005; Okwakpam, 2012; Igwe, 2013) have investigated the causes of
truancy visà vis student academic performance. Such studies left unanswered the
vital questions about the prevalence of truancy and factors which predispose
student to truancy. Answers to these questions are pertinent to understanding
truancy and improving school facilities and guidance and counseling services to
eliminate truancy among school students.
Truancy
predisposes students to dropping out of school as students often demonstrate a
pattern of increased absence from school over a period of time. Nwana (2004)
explained that truancy is an act of intentionally absenting of oneself from
school without permission, leaving without authorization and dodging of
specific classes. It has been reported that many factors are suspected to
facilitate truancy among students. Among such factor is lack of qualified
teachers, lack of teaching and learning materials, and lack of dedication on
the part of teachers, home factor (marital adjustment and broken homes, lack of
affection, disability of parents). It was established that, to understand the
problem of truancy, it is essential to understand the causes; these causes were
grouped into four categories such as students’ personal and psychological
factors and school climate.
Williams (2000) observed that truancy has interfered
adversely with students’ academic performance as well as their moral standard.
Inadequate guidance and counseling services in schools has been identified as
one major factors responsible for an increasing rate of truancy among students
in secondary schools and because of the many potentials of truancy to derail
set educational objective of the students and the school and in view of the
short and long term impact of truancy on students’ learning and personal
development.
On the academic performance of secondary school students’
in Nsukka Local Government of Enugu state, a good number of factors have influenced
student academic performance which are identified as including classroom
management, quality of teaching staff, family, socioeconomic status, lack of
teaching facilities, inadequate student discipline, lack of student commitment,
emotional problems, curriculum contents, learning situation, inadequate teacher
instruction and not enough parental involvement.
The researcher focuses his investigation on the perceptions
of students and teachers on the causes of poor academic performance among
secondary school students’ in Nsukka local government of Enugu state, Nigeria.
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.
Many of our youths 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. Truancy is a problem because the absent students 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.
For
sometimes now, the school system has been bedeviled by a number of problems.
These problems affect instruction, administration and overall performance of
students. It also affects academic performance in both internal and external
examination. Among these problems are truancy, bullying, fighting, rape,
sagging, cultism and so on that have affected teaching and learning adversely
and make the learning environment no longer interesting to both the teacher and
the student.
Truancy poses a serious threat to learning in most schools;
the school on the other hand does not seem to be able to cope with the problem
because no sufficient attempt has been made to reach its root. One clear fact
about this issue is the fact that there is a growing tendency for schools
children to be involved in social vices such as stealing, smoking etc.
It is the concern of this work therefore to look into how
truancy influences academic performance of secondary school students in Nsukka
Local Government Area.
Purpose
of the Study
The
purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of truancy on academic
performance of secondary school students in Nsukka Local Government.
Specifically, the study is to: examines:
1.
determine to whether the acts of truancy
exist among secondary school students
2.
examine the causes of truancy in
secondary schools
3.
examine the effects of truancy on the
academic performance of students
4.
determine the roles the teacher,
parents, school authorities and government play towards the reduction of
truancy
Significance
of the Study
The
usefulness of this research work in the educational system cannot be
overemphasized. If the result of this study is properly utilized, it is going
to be beneficial to the students, teachers, parents and government.
The
research work will help to educate the upcoming students on the consequences of
truancy if they are involved in it. The student carrying out this research
study needed the result of the research to fulfill the graduation requirements.
It will help the parents to understand the need for adequate parental care on
school children. It will intimate the teachers and other school on the
strategies to employ in order to reduce the incidence of truancy in schools. It
will also help the government to design relevant policies and legislations to
curb the menace of truancy.
Scope
of the Study
The
study was based on some randomly selected secondary schools in Nsukka Local
government Area of Enugu state. The scope of the study is delimited to
determine the “influence of truancy on the academic performance of secondary
school students in the area”. The influence of truancy would be studied as my
independent variable with the following sub variables; causes, effect, factors,
solutions.
Finally, the study would be delimited to 200 students from
5 selected secondary schools in Nsukka Local Government Area.
Research
Questions
The
following research questions were posited to guide the study;
1.
What acts constitute truancy in
secondary schools in Nsukka local government area of Enugu state?
2.
What factors are responsible for the act
of truancy in secondary schools in Nsukka local government area?
3.
What are the effects of truancy on the
academic performance of students in Nsuka local government area?
What roles have the
teachers, parents and other bodies to play to reduce truancy and proper
solutions in schools?================================================================
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