1.0 INTRODUCTION
Truancy refers to students unexcused absences from school. Concern about truancy typically focuses on these unexcused absences. However, any school absence excused or unexcused as well as missed classes and hardy arrivals can affect students negatively. Despite good parental care and proper supervision of the school, some children are good at staying out of classes while lessons are going on. Some of the pupils may leave their houses in the morning for school but are not found in the school. Attendance of pupils at lesson has been a problem from the inception of formal education. The checking of attendance ushered in the daily attendance register. Irregular attendance has been identified by Adeyeno (1992) as one of the reasons for academic backwardness.
Although no national statistics on truancy exist, some metropolitan areas report thousands of absent youths on any school day. Truancy affects students of all ages, from all types of communities and socio-economic backgrounds (Robins and Kathryn, 1998).Robins and Kathlyn (1998) in their research showed that factors contributing to truancy stem from three areas: school, family and community and student characteristics. The two researchers identified school factors as comprising of inconsistent and ineffective school attendance policies, poor record keeping, not notifying parents or guardians of absences and unsafe school environment and inadequate identification of special education needs.Family and community factors including negative peer influences; such as other truant youths, financial, social, medical, or other problems that pressurize students to stay to help the family, child abuse and neglect, family disorganization, teenage pregnancy or parenthood, lack of family support for educational and other goals and violence in or near the home or school. Those factors identified as student characteristics were lack of personal and educational ambition, poor academic performance, lack of self esteem, unmet mental health needs, alcoholism, drug use and abuse.
For decades, educators, researchers, and social reformers have recognized the link between truancy and delinquency. Truant students are at risk of many negative outcomes, including educational failure, social isolation, substance abuse, low self esteem, unwanted pregnancy, unemployment, violence, adult criminality and incarceration. In addition to placing students at risk, truancy has harmful social and financial consequences. Communities with high rates of truancy are likely to have corresponding rates of daytime criminal activity and vandalism. High school dropouts claim more in government funded social services than high school graduates (Garry, 1996). The Los Angeles Country Office of Education had in 1996 identified truancy as the most powerful predictor of delinquency. Police department in van Nuys, California further reported that many students not in school during regular hours were committing crimes, including vandalism, shoplifting and graffiti. This was evidence when in Van Nuys, California, officials conducted a three week sweep for truants on the streets, shoplifting arrests dropped by 60 percent (Harry, 1996).
Absenteeism is detrimental to students achievement, promotion, graduation, self esteem, and employment potential. Clearly, students who miss school are far behind their peers in the classroom. This, in turn, leads to low self esteem and increases the likelihood that such students will drop out of school. Before determining the most effective means of controlling unexcused absences, the causes of truant behaviour must be understood. Not only the cause vary from individual to individual, but school staff and students may disagree about the underlying causes. Although many teachers may be empathetic and willing to help students, difference in opinion may create a barrier to understanding between teacher and student. In one survey, students cited boredom and loss of interest in school, irrelevant courses, suspensions, and bad relationships with teachers as the major factors in their decision to skip school. On the other hand, most of the school staff believed truancy to be related primarily to student problems with family and peers (Bartler, 1984).