CHAPTER ONE

  INTRODUCTION

Background of the study             

        Truancy is the absence of student from school without any justifiable reason. T he school is a social unit established by the members of the society, as a formal agency of education which the young (students) attends to learn about themselves, other people, as well as language, custom attitude and the way of life. Truancy is the serious problem in our country today especially in the cities. 

       Education can be defined as the transmission of the value and accumulation of knowledge of a culture, molding behavior in the way of adulthood, and directing them towards eventual role in society. Education is there to help people become useful member of society, should also help them to develop an appreciation of their cultural heritage and live more satisfying lives.

       However, staying in school is the first step towards achieving good education,  In order to achieve academic excellence, student are required by school law to attend classes daily but some factors have caused most students to absent themselves  from school activities  hence engaging in “Truancy “. It has become a known fact that Nigerian educational standard are on serious decline due to the problem of truancy and other anti –social maladice like cultism, indiscipline etc. The production of individual who will help accelerate Nigerian development is partly dependent on the individual willingness to learn. This means that attendance to school and more importantly classes is very important if the objectives of education must be achieved. Some school does not tolerate truancy, so whenever a student exceed the highest allowed absence set by the school, they will face the consequences of being expelled from the school and it has a negative impact on the  student academic performance.

Historically, the origin of truancy can be traced back to the Massachusetts Compulsory Education Act of 1647 and its subsequent School Attendance Act of 1852 which mandated parents to send their children to school for at least twelve (12) weeks in a term (Micheal, 2005). To this Act, every school is required by law to notify any student who acquires five unexcused absence within a school year. It is through this unexcused absence from school without legitimate or legal knowledge of the parents, guardian or the school authority that truancy among students came into existence.

Truancy: This could be defined as the practice by which the student leave home for school but do not reach their destination rather they stay mid way between home and school when school close. They return carrying their boxes or bag and go home in accompany of their mates in the pretence that they have close or returned from school. Also, it the practice of staying away from school without permission. In other words, it is the act of staging away from school without a reasonable excuse.

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

In the same vain, Nwachukwu (2004) said that a truant is one who absents him/herself from classes and school functions, comes late to classes and returns days or even weeks after the beginning of each term without any good permission. Meanwhile Nwachukwu (1999) opined that if a student’s character does not conform with the already mapped out rules and regulations with regards to class attendance and other school activities, that such student is regarded as a truant.

According to Baker, sigmon and Nugent (2001), voluminous research indicates that school problems including: academic failure, juvenile delinquency, gang activity and drug abuse. Nonetheless, the present researchers believe that some of the causes of truancy are non- student factors like, inadequate parental care, cruel teachers, and poor school management.

In the light of the above, Nwangwu (1991) reported that most parents usually over look their responsibilities in training their children rather they try to transfer their roles to the school, neglecting their vital roles of nurturing the character of the child at home. It does not mean that a teacher has not got their own shortcomings. Araonyer (1991) said that some teachers are chief truant who come to school at will while some make lessons very difficult for the student by jumping into the class without proper preparation for the lesson. The present researchers observed that in any school where management has a laissez – faire approach to disciplinary issues like, punctuality, neatness, moral conduct etc the students show lackadaisical attitude to school functions and thus revert to truancy. Fitzgerald (2005) explained that school attendance is an important factor in the development of child’s future. Success in school often leads to a bright and promising future for a student.

He further opined that many students stray away from school and become involved in negative activities such as drug abuse, delinquent behavior and gang activity. Sigmon and Nugent (2001) warned that not only does truancy have an immediate effect on the secondary school student; it also extends far into student’s adult years with increased likelihood of incarceration. The National policy on Education (2004) defined secondary Education, as the education children receive after primary Education and before the tertiary stage. Post primary school board (PPSMB) statistical record PRS (2009) shows that there are ten governments owned secondary schools in Enugu East local Government Area of Enugu State. Today, among the students of the schools there was many truants and deviant behaviour has greatly hindered the progress of the schools generally. I have taken it up as a responsibility to find out the causes of the truancy and the way to stop the evil. This long essay on the causes of truancy is intended to take a critical look into one or the major rules that influence students to the truancy in secondary schools. Some of the truant’s students will go with their fellow students to indulge in watch video in their own resident.

Justice R. A. L. Ogbobin, said that broken homes are assess to truancy. Truancy is a great danger in a discipline schools possibly the whole students in the school to delinquent. This is true because students initiative and don’t at the moment realized the consequences of their delinquency. The measuring of the truancy in the secondary school students, I shall be taking a random sample of the truants find out from that the cause of truancy from their homes, schools and the society they live. It is against this research in the solution of the above measure of truancy and not far fetch. The teacher should advice the parents of the students to provide the students with adequate or requisite school materials and also let parents know the problem if causes failing to do so, teacher should not bully on the students, because hinder the students backwardness. A student should be corrected by the teacher. The government should go further to make law to punish those couples whose home are broken leaving the children to play truancy.

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