I.

Introduction

One of the most annoying experiences for teachers like me is when students
are absent. We prepare lesson plans with the objective that 100% of the class will learn
from the day’s classroom activities, and it is most satisfying when all students are
present on that day and the days thereafter to ensure maximum learning.
Sadly, it is very difficult to achieve perfect attendance. No matter how
interesting and well-prepared my lessons and teaching materials are, there are bound
to be students who miss out on the day’s activities—willingly or unwillingly.
I would like to minimize this problem, if not eradicate it completely. That is
why I conducted a case study to understand them better. I wanted a more accurate
analysis of why some of my students are perennial absentees, so I could formulate
plans, projects, and programs to minimize their absences. I hope that it also enlightens
you. Even if you are not an educator, you may be able to help a student to stay in
school.
To begin with, there is a section in Grade seven which is classified as the last
section in Strengthened Technical Vocational Education Program (Grade 7 STVEP-D)
class and handles the students who are known to encounter learning difficulties and
are sometimes have learning deficiency.

The learning of the students is directly affected by availability of the students

(attendance) and the learning environment of the students. Thus, this factor has
contributed much in the learning success of the students. The learning of the students is
mostly dependent on the said factors.
In line with this, the teacher has already developed strategies and learning
activities that would lessen the environmental factor to the learning of the students. She
has also maintained, develop and apply significant and applicable teaching-learning
strategies.
 II. Statement Of The Problem
According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, absenteeism is "chronic absence." In
the context of school, it is the habitual or intentional failure to attend school. While every
student may miss some school activities now and then, absence becomes a problem
when the student is away from school for many days.
Going to school regularly is crucially important for a student’s education and
social skills. Chronically absent students are at a disadvantage both socially and
academically. They miss out on critical stages of social interaction and development
with their peers, while simultaneously limiting their academic progress. This can result in
low self-esteem, social isolation, and dissatisfaction that could well have precipitated
non-attendance in the first place.
Absenteeism also affects the teacher’s ability to present class work in a
sequential
and organized way. This can have an effect on the progress of all the students in the
class.
Families of habitually absent students can also suffer. For a poverty-stricken family,
it may mean a continuation of the poverty and unemployment cycle that may run in the
family. This also contributes to family conflicts.
Society also suffers when school-age children are not in school. These children
may hang out on the streets. Since they have nothing to do, they resort to petty crimes
like stealing other people’s belongings and property. Others may become addicted to
drugs or engage in other destructive behavior. Thus, if a student keeps away from
school for too long, he may grow up to be a liability to his community and his country as
a whole.
It is the aim of every school to lessen, if not eradicate, absenteeism among its
students. One way of addressing this problem is to identify the causes of truancy. Once
they are singled out, understood, and analyzed, these issues may be addressed with
specific actions and measures. This will eventually result in the better performance of
the students, teachers, and the school in general.

III. Causes Of The Problem

Figures were rounded signify classification of responses. Below is a table of a
study questionnaire of the most common causes of absenteeism.
Study Questionnaire: What Are the Most Common Causes of Absenteeism?
Teacher-
Physical Personal Classroom
Related Home Factors
Factors Attitude Environment
Reasons
I am not Our classroom is My parents told
House is too far My teacher
interested in hot and me to be
from school scolded me.
my studies uncomfortable. absent.
I can't
It is unsafe to go understand It's noisy in our My parents
I feel lazy.
to school my teacher's classroom. quarreled.
lessons.
No one
My parents
accompanies My friends tell
I don't like my Classmates bully don't care
me to school me to be
teacher. me. about my
because of absent.
studies.
distance
 Teacher-
Physical Personal Classroom
Related Home Factors
Factors Attitude Environment
Reasons
Health factors
(toothache,
I can't I do too many
stomach ache, I have no friends
concentrate on household
headache, in my class.
my studies chores.
fever/flu,
diarrhea
I have no
I didn't wake money to buy
up in time. snacks at
school.
I did not study We have no
or do my food. I did not
homework. eat.
I was playing
computer
games.

On the other hand, school absenteeism is an alarming problem for administrators,

teachers, parents, society in general, and pupils in particular. Unaccepted absences
have a negative effect on peer relationships, which can cause further absences.
According to Malcolm, Wilson, Davidson and Kirk (2003) teachers identified the effects
of absenteeism on children as:
 Academic under-achievement.
 Difficulty in making friends which could lead to boredom and loss of confidence.
 Prolonged absence can have deleterious effects for the child in later life.
Students who are absent from school are at the greatest risk of dropping out of
school early.
IV. Decision Criteria and Alternative Solutions
The entire Grade seven (7) section STVEP- D was asked to complete a
questionnaire. They rated various situations, reasons, and causes for being absent from
school.
All the data was then organized, tallied, tabulated, and presented in a series of
tables and graphs. Frequency counts, percentage weight values and weighted mean
were used in the analysis and interpretation of data.
The responses were analyzed using a five-point Likert scale with the following
equivalent:
 1. never
 2. rarely
 3. sometimes
 4. very often
 5. always
It should be noted that the questionnaire was given to students in their native
dialect to increase the chance of accurate responses.
 The measure of central tendency, specifically the mean, was used to determine the
average value of response or response average of the pupils.
 Physical Factors
Among the items cited, the distance of their house to the school and the danger
posed by walking to the school has the same response average, or a mean of 1.04.
This means that both are not reasons for them to be absent from school.
 Health
Fever/flu is the most common reason of students for being absent. It has the
highest response average of 2.4. It is followed by headache, with an average response
of 1.67. Other diseases like diarrhea come in third with 1.61 average responses. The
least common reason for them for being absent is stomach ache, with 1.39 averages.
 Personal Attitude
That the student doesn’t wake up early enough is the most common reason why
he/she is absent. This account for 1.91 mean. Another reason commonly cited is that
they can’t concentrate on their studies and that they were not able to study their
lessons. This resulted from 1.45 and 1.37 mean respectively. Feeling lazy and playing
computer games also keep them away from school. The former has a response
average of 1.26 while the latter has 1.22.
 Teacher-related
When the students are scolded for their bad behavior by the teacher, this tends
to make them be absent from their classes. It has the highest average response of 1.38
while the reason that they can’t understand their lessons follow close behind with 1.32
mean.
 Classroom Atmosphere
The highest mean of 1.77 was accorded to noise inside the classroom which
means that this is the primary reason why they tend to be truant. Bullying by fellow
students follows with 1.39 response average.
 Home-related
Students who say their parents asked them to be absent resulted in the highest
mean of 1.52. Household chores come second with a response average of 1.47. The
other reasons ranged from 1.08 to 1.39, including not having money to spend for snacks
and other small expenses in school, no breakfast/food, and that their parents quarreled.
The response average or the mean was computed by multiplying the percentage
of responses by the equivalent value of each frequency and then adding them all.
e.g. (5 x 0%) + (4 x 3%) + (3 x 13%) + (2 x 7%) + (1 x 77%) = 1.42.

Frequency of Responses
Always Very Sometimes
Rarely (2) Never (1)
(5) Often (4) (3)
 Physical
Factor
1. Our house is far
0 0 1 0 46
from the school.
2. It is unsafe to go to
0 0 1 0 46
school.
3. Nobody 0 0 0 0 47
 Always Very Sometimes
Rarely (2) Never (1)
(5) Often (4) (3)
accompanies me in
going to school since it
is far.
 Health
1. I have a toothache. 0 2 8 4 33
2. My stomach hurts. 0 0 10 4 33
3. I have a headache 0 1 14 9 23
4. I'm down with
0 5 15 22 5
fever/flu.
5. I have other diseases
0 1 9 15 22
like diarrhea, etc.
 Personal
Attitude
1. I am not interested
0 0 0 0 47
in my studies.
2. I feel lazy. 0 0 5 6 36
3. My friends influence
me to be absent from 0 0 2 1 43
my classes.
4. I can't concentrate
0 0 9 9 29
in my studies.
5. I didn't wake up
0 5 16 8 18
early.
6. I did not study/make
my assignments the 0 1 5 0 41
night before.
7. I got fond of playing
0 1 5 0 41
computer games.
 Teacher-
Related
Factors
1. My teacher scolded
0 1 6 7 33
me.
2. I can't understand
0 0 7 5 35
my teacher's lessons.
3. I don't like my
0 0 0 0 47
teacher.
 Classroom
Atmosphere
1. Our classroom is
0 0 4 1 42
hot and uncomfortable.
2. It's noisy inside our
4 5 6 3 29
classroom.
3. A
classmate/classmates 0 1 8 4 34
bully me.
4. I have no friends in
0 0 0 0 47
our class.
F. Home-Related
Factors
 Always Very Sometimes
Rarely (2) Never (1)
(5) Often (4) (3)
1. My parents ask me
to be absent from 0 0 10 11 26
class.
2. My parents
0 0 2 1 44
quarreled.
3. My parents don't
0 0 1 1 45
care about my studies.
4. I'm too pre-occupied
1 3 5 5 33
with household chores.
5. I have no money to
0 1 8 4 34
buy snacks in school.
6. We have no food/I
0 0 7 4 36
did not eat.

V. Conclusion

Every day’s lesson is very important crucial and pre requisite for tomorrow’s
lesson. Students who are absent in a certain day, especially since they are in lowest
section have encounters difficulty in processing the missed concept and is less capable
of adopting new concepts.
Students who are absent show less interest in the topics that they have missed
unless the teacher repeat or give addition to activities for them to catch up. Students
who have absences most likely give less or below the passing score of the test given.
Students who are absent have less focus than those who are present the day the
lesson is/ are introduced.
Among all the causes presented, health is the primary reason why students are
absent from their classes. Flu/fever is the leading culprit in this category. Oral health,
which according to the Department of Education is the main reason why pupils are
absent, is just third among the reasons cited by the responding students.
Classroom atmosphere, personal attitude, teacher factor and home-related
reasons follow in that order. The least reason they give is related to their physical
environment.
Of all the factors/categories cited, the top 10 reasons of student absenteeism are
as follows:
1) Flu/fever
2) Can’t wake up early
3) Noise inside the classroom
4) Headache
5) Other diseases such as diarrhea
6) Parents asking them to be absent
7) Preoccupation with household chores
9.) Toothache
10.) No money to buy snacks in school
11.) Bullied by a classmate/classmates

There are a lot of factors that our students show low performances in our
classroom activities. But one of the reasons that they gain such performance is because
of their absences. Student’s absences are mostly unavoidable when they do it because
they are sick. But the effect of their absences can be lessening through various
activities that the teacher will provide to them the day return in school again.
Learning of the students who absent 2-3 consecutive days are greatly affected
and their test results are dragging them down. Based from the research, grade 7
STVEP- D performances are most affected when they absent the certain day because
they easily; post track on the flow of the lesson.

There are many activities the teacher could do for them to catch up with the
lessen and those activities are conduct feeding program, tutoring and remedial
teaching, enhance learning through the use of cooperative learning activities and most
lastly provide them accommodating and safe environment to learn.

VI. Recommendation

In order to limit or eliminate absenteeism, it is recommended that educators:

1. Educate the students on how to take care of their overall well-
being. Emphasis should be given to oral health and overall body wellness. Teach
them how to avoid communicable diseases. Give them information on how to
properly wash their hands, which is the main source of germs and bacteria among
children. Let them develop proper eating habits. Since most of the children in the
school come from poor families, point out to them the cheap but healthy foods. Ask
them to pass on this information to their parents.
2. Ensure that classroom atmosphere is conducive to learning. Noise-reduction
among students should be a priority. Older children, like grade VI students, tend to
have louder voices so they should be taught how to speak softly and without
needing to shout. The key here is discipline. The teacher must also see to it that
the students are comfortable and have no other concerns except the lesson at
hand. There should be a lively interaction between the teacher and the students,
but the teacher should see to it that noise is modulated so as not to distract pupils
from their learning.
3. Inform parents about the benefit of keeping their children in
school. Emphasize to them that if they keep on asking their children to be absent,
this will set a bad example to the child. If the parents themselves are keeping the
child away from school, they must believe that household concerns are more
important than their education.
4. Refrain from scolding misbehaving pupils. As much as possible, remind them of
their wrong doing in a most diplomatic manner. Self-control should be a virtue
which the teacher should practice in the course of her teaching everyday of the
school week.
5. Give extra attention to those who are left behind in the lessons. Tap the bright
pupils to teach their slower classmates. In other words, cooperative learning should
be practiced in the teaching-learning process. Once a slow student fully
understands the lesson, he/she can keep up with his/her other classmates, thus
self-confidence is gained.
6. Emphasize that academic success is very much dependent on student
attitude towards school. Motivate them so they will be looking forward to attending
their classes regularly. For those who wake up late, encourage them to get an alarm
clock. Do not scold the pupils who come late. Give them a time-table to change their
sleeping habits and to study before bed instead of watching TV.
I would like to caution all the parents out there: You may or may not know that
your children are always absent from school. One of the rules I implement in my class is
to require an excuse from a parent or guardian for every child's absence. Many of them
comply, but some students get other people to write an excuse letter for them. When
this happens, I call on the parents and let them know about it. It is only then that they
become aware of the child’s absence from my class. When they found out about it,
some of them scold their child in front of me. This gives me an insight into my student’s
life at home.

But the most disturbing thing is that habitually absent students eventually drop
out of my class. This happens to all my colleagues. We do our best to prevent drop-
outs, but it is beyond our control. We can only hope that these students will come back
the next year, change their ways, and that that whatever was hindering their studies is
behind them.
 Republic of the Philippines
Region XII
SULTAN KUDARAT STATE UNIVERSITY
GRADUATE SCHOOL
E.J.C. Montilla, Tacurong City

GRADE 7 STVEP-D
ABSENTEEISM IN SCHOOL

Case Study
Requirements in Educ. 602
(Philosophies and Theories of Education)

Presented by:
EDNA N. QUINILOG
MAT- Filipino

Presented to:
Prof. Celia R. Peralta Ph.D
INSTRUCTRESS