BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Attendance is an important factor in school success among

children and youth. Studies show that better attendance is related to

higher academic achievement for students of all backgrounds, but

particularly for children with lower socio-economic status.

Beginning in kindergarten, students who attend school regularly

score higher on tests than their peers who are frequently absent.

Chronic truancy or most commonly known as frequent unexcused

absence is a strong predictor of undesirable outcomes in

adolescence, including academic failure, dropping out of school,

substance abuse, gang involvement, and criminal activity. However,

chronic absence is increasingly identified as an important early

warning sign that a student is at risk for school failure and early

dropout. Chronic absenteeism is usually defined as missing ten

percent or more of school days. Unfortunately, few school districts

currently have the capacity to analyze attendance data to identify

those students who are chronically absent.

Many factors can contribute to student absenteeism. These are

the following:

1. Phobic Adolescence: During this stage in the growth of a teen,

there is a lot of fear developed as a result of physical changes of the

body for example growth of pimples, turbulent emotions e.t.c. This

scares teens away from school.

2. Lack of Interest: Students could be lacking interest in the

study, which could be as a result of content that is difficult for

them to grasp hence pushing them away from school.

3. Teacher approach: The approach used by teachers may not

be understood by the student and this could lead them to lose

interest in school. Punitive attendance policy plays a big role in

absenteeism too.

4. Pamperness from the family: Students who get excessive

pocket money from their families are most likely to absent

themselves from school since they need time to spend the

money.

5. Private Couching: Flexible private couching encouraged by

some parents could drive a number of students away from the

conventional school timetable.

6. Diseases: Some diseases like asthma which requires

 attention and care as well as an environment that is warm and

not dusty could make students remain home.

7. School Infrastructural Facilities: Lack of libraries, sports

facilities is a hindrance to attendance of school among

students.

8. Entertainment: Accessibility of entertainment facilities like

cinemas could divert attention of some students from school.

This research involves a contemporary investigation on absenteeism

prevalence, comorbid physical and psychiatric conditions,classification,

contextual risk factors, cross-cultural variables, assessment, intervention,

and outcome.