CAUSES OF ABSENTEEISM AMONG STUDENTS, AS PERCIEVED BY SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Absenteeism is a major problem that poses challenges to teaching and learning and the overall academic performance of students; however, numerous factors account for absenteeism among secondary school students. This study investigated causes of absenteeism among secondary school students, as perceived by teachers in K wara State, Nigeria. The research design adopted for the study was descriptive survey design. The population comprised all secondary school teachers in Kwara State, which is estimated at 15, 412. The purposive, proportional and simple random sampling techniques, were used to select 378 teachers from the three senatorial districts of Kwara State. The instruments used to collect data for the study is "Causes of Students' Absenteeism Questionnaire (CASAQ). " The instrument was subjected to content validation, while reliability of 0. 79 was obtained through test re-test method. One research question was raised and answered in the study, while three null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0. 05 level of significance. The data obtained were analyzed, using percentages, mean, Analysis of Variance and t-test statistics. The result of the study showed that the main causes of absenteeism among secondary school students, as perceived by teachers in K wara State, include long distance between school and place of residence, teachers' unfriendliness to students and students' lack of commitment to schooling. The result also showed that there was no significant difference in the causes of absenteeism among CAUSES OF ABSENTEEISM AMONG STUDENTS, AS PERCIEVED BY SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA Babawale Joseph AFOLABI (Ph.D) afobabsy2k3@gmail.com Department of Guidance and Counselling, Faculty of Education, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. Oluyemisi Florence AYEMOBA (Ph.D) ojoyemisi@yahoo.com Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board, Guidance and Counselling Unit, Ibeju/Lekki Local Government Education Authority, Lagos State, Nigeria. Busayo Omolade AJIBOLA (Ph.D) busayo.ajibola@gmail.com Department of Guidance and Counselling, Faculty of Education, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. & Cecilia Olaitan BABA babacecilia@gmail.com Department of Guidance and Counselling, Faculty of Education, Bingham University, Nasarawa State, Nigeria. students, as perceived by secondary school teachers in K wara State on the basis of educational qualification, marital status and gender. Based on these findings, it was recommended, among others, that secondary schools should be built within the community and not outskirts of the community, in order to reduce the distance from students' homes and prevent absenteeism; school management should also ensure that there is good relationship between teachers and students, to create students-friendly environment that could reduce absenteeism; in order to engage students in discussions that would help to educate them on the importance of school attendance, teachers, regardless of gender, marital status and educational qualification, should be enlightened more on how to reduce absenteeism among students in secondary school.