TITLE:

CAUSES OF ABSENTEEISM AMONG GRADE 9 STUDENTS OF DULAG

NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

ABSTRACT
Student absenteeism is a perennial problem of all teachers. Every curriculum year, it is one of
the problems that we have to contend to. It is not only the teachers who are concerned with this
problem but the school administrators as well.
This action research will examine the causes of absenteeism of the Grade 9 students of Dulag
National High School for the school year 2014-2015. When they were in Grade 8 they were the
students which has the most number of absentees everyday. This was gathered from the data
contained in the daily attendance record being submitted by the teacher adviser to the Guidance
Counselor every month. Now that they are in Grade 9, some of them are still frequent absentees.
It is for this reason that this research is undertaken. Based on the findings, methods/strategies
were recommended to minimize, if not eradicate absenteeism or truancy.
INTRODUCTION
Absenteeism, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary means chronic absence. In the context of
the school it is the habitual or intentional failure from going to school. It cannot be denied that
every now and then, students may miss some school activities and lessons. But it becomes a
problem if the student will be away from school for many days.
Going to school regularly is crucially important for a students education and social skills.
Chronic absentee students are placed at a disadvantage both socially and academically. They
miss out on critical stages of social interaction and development with their peers and at the same
time impacts negatively on their academic progress. This can result to low self-esteem, social
isolation and dissatisfaction that could well have precipitated non-attendance in the first place.
School absenteeism is an alarming problem for administrators, teachers, parents and the society
in general, as well as for the students in particular. Unaccepted absence has a negative effect on
peer relationship which could cause absence. According to Malcolm, Wilson, Davidson and Kirk
(2003) teachers identified effects of absenteeism on children as : academic under-achievement,
difficulty in making friends which could lead to boredom, loss of confidence. Also, 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.
Absenteeism also affects the teachers ability present class work in a sequential and organized
way. This can have an effect on the progress of all the students attending the class.
The families of habitual absentees 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.

The society also suffers as the children of school age hang around in the streets. They can be
found just gallivanting around. Since they have nothing to do, they resort to petty crimes like
stealing other peoples belongings and properties. Others may resort to drug addiction and other
behaviour that is detrimental to society. Thus, if the students keeps on being away from school
for too long, he may grow up to be a liability of his community and of his country as 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 why students become truant from school.
Once they are singled out, understood and analysed, specific actions and measures can be
undertaken. This will eventually redound to the better performance of the students, teachers and
the school in general.
It is in this context that this action research is undertaken, that is, to identify the causes why the
Grade 9 students in this school absent themselves from their classes.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
This study aimed to determine the causes of absenteeism among Grade 9 students of Dulag
National High School. Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:
1. What are the common causes why students are absent from their classes?
2. Which among these causes is the most prevalent?
a. Physical factors
a.1 House is far from the school
a.2 It is unsafe to go to school
a.3 Nobody accompanies me in going to school since it is far
b. Health factors
b.1 I have a toothache
b.2 My stomach hurts
b.3 I have a headache
b.4 Im down with fever/flu
b.5 I have other diseases like diarrhea, etc.
c. Personal attitude
c.1 I am not interested in my studies

c.2 I feel lazy

c.3 My friends influence me to be absent from my classes
c.4 I cant concentrate in my studies
c.5 I didnt wake up early
c.6 I did not study/make my assignments the night before
c.7 I got fond of playing computer games
d. Teacher-related reasons
d.1 My teacher scolded me
d.2 I cant understand my teachers lesson
d.3 I dont like my teacher
e. Classroom atmosphere
e.1 Our classroom is hot and uncomfortable
e.2 Its noisy inside our classroom
e.3 A classmate/classmates bully me
e.4 I have no friends in our class
f. Home-related factors
f.1 My parents ask me to be absent from class
f.2 My parents quarrelled
f.3 My parents dont care about my studies
f.4 I do many household chores
f.5 I have no money to buy snacks in school
f.6 We have no food/I did not eat

3. What strategies can be proposed to minimize, if not totally eradicate absenteeism among
the students?
SCOPE AND DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY
This study is limited to the causes of absenteeism among the Grade 9 students of Dulag National
High School for school year 2014-2015. 93 out of 357 students are made as respondents. They
are ask to accomplish a questionnaire for the purpose.
METHODOLOGY
This study will use the descriptive survey method. A questionnaire will be used to determine the
causes of absenteeism among the students wherein they will rate each situation/reason/cause
presented.
All the data gathered from the respondents will be organized, tallied, tabulated and presented in a
series of tables and graphs. Frequency counts, percentage weight values and weighted mean will
be used in the analysis and interpretation of data.
The responses of the students will be analysed using a 5-point Likert Scale with the following
equivalent:
1 Never
2 Rarely
3 Sometimes
4 Very Often
5 Always
It is to be noted that the questionnaire given to the students were interpreted in the native
dialect in order for them to understand better what they were answering, thus giving more
chances of accurate responses.
The checking was done to signify classification of responses. The measure of central tendency
specifically the mean was used to determine the average value of response or response average
of the students.

FINDINGS ON THE CAUSES OF STUDENT ABSENTEEISM

A. Physical Factors
Among the items cited, the distance of their house to the school was the reason for them
to be absent from school with an average or a mean of 3.36. The danger posed by walking
to the school comes second with an average or a mean of 2.45.
B. Health
Headache is the most common reason of students for being absent. It has the highest
response average of 3.09. it is followed by other diseases like diarrhoea with an average
response of 2.63. Toothache come in third with 2.07 average response. The least common
reason for them for being absent is fever/flue with 1.97 and stomach ache of 1.85.
C. Personal Attitude
That the student cant concentrate on their studies and that they were not able to study
their lessons is the most common reason why he/she is absent. This account for 2.91
mean. Another reason commonly cited is that they doesnt wake up early with 2.75 mean.
Not interested in their classes keep them away from school. The former has a response
average of 2.14 while the latter has 1.84.
D. Teacher- Related
When the students are scolded for their bad behaviour by the teacher, this tends to make
them absent from their classes. It has the highest average response of 1.88 while the
reason they cant understand their lessons follow close behind with 1.67 mean.
E. Classroom Atmosphere
The highest mean of 2.80 was accorded to noise inside the classroom which means that
this is the primary reason why they tend to be truant. The hot and uncomfortable
atmosphere of the classroom follows with 2.44 mean.
F. Home-Related
My parents ask me to be absent from school reason resulted to the highest mean of
1.91. Household chores come second with a response average of 1.46. The other reasons
ranged from 1.28 to 1.26 include parents dont care about their studies, having no money
to spend for snacks and other small expenses in school, no breakfast/food, and that their
parents quarrelled.

CONCLUSIONS
Among all the causes presented, physical environment is the primary reason why students are
absent from their classes. House which is far from the school is the leading cause in this
category.
Health related, personal attitude, classroom atmosphere, teacher-related reasons follow in that
order. The least reason they give is related to their homes.
Considering all the factors/categories cited, the top 10 reasons of student absenteeism are as
follows:
1. House is far from the school
2. I have a headache
3. I cant concentrate on my studies
4. Its noisy inside our room
5. I didnt wake up early
6. I have other diseases like diarrhoea
7. Our classroom is hot and uncomfortable
8. Im not interested in my studies
9. It is unsafe to go to school
10. I have toothache
RECOMMENDATIONS
The following are recommended to limit the students absenteeism and prevent their occurrences:
1. Encourage students to enrol in the nearest high school in their barangay. There are five (5)
secondary schools aside from Dulag National High School namely: Rizal National High School,
Calubian National High School, Cabatoan National High School , San Jose National High
School and Cabacungan National High School. As much as possible, let them enrol in the nearest
secondary school where they live to avoid making absences. This way, absences will be lessened.
Imbibe in the minds of the students that their academic success is very much dependent on their
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 have an alarm clock. Do not scold the
students who came late. Give them a time-table to change their sleeping habit for the better. In
line with this, studying before retiring to bed instead of watching TV should be prioritized and
instilled to the students.
2. Educate the students on how to take care of their over-all well-being. Emphasis should be
given to oral health and over-all body wellness. Teach them to avoid communicable diseases as
well. 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.

3. Time and again, classroom atmosphere should be made conducive to learning. Noise reduction
among students should be a priority as this really affects them. It should be inculcated in them
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 it will be in modulated voices so as to impair the hearing of the students due
to too much noise when doing classroom activities.
Include proper room ventilation and lighting so as not to distract students from their learning.
4. During parents conferences, inform the parents about the benefit of keeping their children in
school at all times when there are classes. Emphasize to them that if they keep on asking their
children to be absent, this will set a bad precedence to the child. If the parents themselves will be
the one to keep them away from school, they will think that household concerns are more
important than their education, thus the children will take for granted their coming to school
regularly and suffer the consequences of it.
5. Although, it cant be avoided that the teacher gets peeved with students bad behaviour, he/she
should refrain from scolding the erring students. 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.
6. Give extra attention to those who are left behind in the lessons. Tap the bright students to teach
their slower classmates, for all we know, these slow students might learn/understand better if
persons of their same age are the ones explaining to them. 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. This
way, they will be more motivated to come to school regularly

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

Name __________________________________________ Gender _______________

Grade & Section ______________________
Age __________________
General Direction. Please accomplish this questionnaire very carefully and honestly and
rest assured that any information that you supply will be treated confidential.
Please put a check mark on the number that corresponds to your answer. (Only once)
Always
(5)

Very
Often
(4)

Sometime
s
(3)

Rarely
(2)

Never
(1)

Always
(5)

Very
often

Sometime
s

Rarely
(2)

Never
(1)

A.Physical Factor
1.Our house is far from the
school.
2.It is unsafe to go to school.
3.Nobody accompanies me in
going to school since it is far.
B. Health
1.I have a toothache.
2.My stomach hurts.
3.I have a headache.
4.Im down with fever/flu.
5.I have other diseases like
diarrhea, etc.
C. Personal Attitude
1.I am not interested in my
studies.
2. I feel lazy.
3.My friends influence me to be
absent from my classes.
4.I cant concentrate on my
studies.
5.I didnt wake up early.
6. I did not study/make my
assignments the night before.
I got fond of playing computer
games.
D. Teacher-Related Factors
1.My teacher scolded me.
2.I cant understand my teachers
lessons.

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3.I dont like my teacher.
E. Classroom Atmosphere
1.Our classroom is hot and
uncomfortable.
2.Its noisy inside our classroom.
3.A classmate/classmates bully
me.
4.I have no friends in our
classroom.
F. Home-Related Factors
1.My parents ask me to be absent
from class
2.My parents quarrelled.
3.My parents dont care about my
studies.
4.Im too preoccupied with
household chores.
5.I have no money to buy snacks
in school.
6.We have no food/I did not eat.
Thank you for your time!

(3)