DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF TRUANCY CONSEQUENCES ON STUDENTS POOR PERFORMANCE



This chapter among other things
1.                  Discusses the findings.
2.                  Outlines the educational implications of the findings.
3.                  Makes recommendations.
4.                  Gives suggestions for further studies.
5.                  States the limitations of the study.
6.                  Summarizes and concludes.


5.1       DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS 
5.1.1 Research Question One: What are the causes of truancy among students in secondary schools? Through the research, it was revealed that among other numerous causes of truancy in secondary schools in Ohaukwu Local Government Area, the chief is the economic situation of parents and guidance, their inability to provide their children ad wards with basic school needs. There is also the problem of inadequate disciplinary measures against truants both at home and in school. Family disputes, teachers’ attitude towards their students and vocation, as well as child forced labour at homes in order to augment their families economic base all contribute to make students keep away from school without permission from the appropriate authorities.
            All these discoveries on the causes of truancy are in line with those made by Akinade (1991) who states that students from families where there are family disputes often lack good manners and are often disobedient to authorities and as such, do not fit in properly into school system. Also Ogumnwe-Miro (2002), who states that “some teachers are found not to have interest in teaching as a vocation some are very hostile to the children put under their care; while some are found to relax disciplinary rules… and some parents do not just do enough on their sponsorship roles of their children’s education. And for these problems to be solved, parents, students and school authorities must change their attitudes towards their educational responsibilities.
5.1.2   Research Questions Two:  In what ways does truancy affect the academic performance of secondary school students?
            From table two, it could be seen that truancy has some drastic negative effects on students academic performances. The table states that it leads them to fail in their examinations constantly, reduces general performances in classroom activities. Truants repeat classes, while it exposes most of them to the temptation of engaging in examination malpractices, and then makes most of them lag behind their mates in line with their curricular activities. Writing on the effects of truancy on students academic performance, Dittimiya (2002) warned that if nothing is done to check truancy, the development of our much needed human resource, required for social and economic transformation of our society may elude the nation. To him, truancy is an intrusive and undeserving element in the development of the nation.

5.3.1   Research Questions Three: What are the effects of truancy on the society?
            From respondents in the research the different ways through which truants can be identified was revealed. According to them, truants exhibit unruly behaviours at home and in school. Most of them show lack of self-confidence when in the company of their fellows students. They most times look untidy, dirty and unkempt. From their academic records, it could be seen that they have retarded academic growth. And generally speaking, truants are lazy people, not just in their academic work but throughout their lives’ endeavours. Akin (2004) supported these views when he confirmed that “truancy like pregnancy cannot be hidden in a truant student for long. An observant parent or guardian can always detect in time that his child or ward has started keeping away from school without authorization, through some observable traits…” which are among those listed above.

5.1.3   Research Questions Four: What are the effects of truancy on the society?
            It was unanimously agree upon by respondents in the research that truancy affects society in many adverse ways. They are of the opinion that it is mainly because of truancy that we now have half-baked graduates as products of our academic institutions. It increases the crime wave, while it leads to the production of lazy sets of people. Since a truant student under-utilizes resources, structures and time invested in him, his stay in school amounts to economic and social waste. And at the long run, truants have been seen to be people who lack self-confidence, a trait which when carried into the society, produces multiple, rippling effects in all social facades (Okafor 1972).
            Concerning these effects, Durkin and Marriger (2005) stated that if the above effects are not properly controlled or totally eradicated, they can lead to more serious social problems such as; civil unrest, hooliganism and terrorism, and for these reasons, speedy development of the entire Nigerian nation can be retarded.

52.       EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF FINDINGS             
1.         The findings revealed that the child is not always to be blamed for his act of truancy. This is because the parents, teachers, school authorities or even environmental factors can force students out of school.
2.         Also, when parents or teachers are responsible for their students act of truancy, they too could be exonerated, owing to the fact that sometimes, they are compelled into it by some social, economic and cultural factors which are totally beyond their immediate control.
3.         When truancy affects students academic performance, it is not just their own (i.e the truants) career that is at risk,  those of their fellow classmates and school mates are also jeopardized.
4.         On the surface, truancy may appear to affect just students’ academic work, but their social outlook is not left unaffected. New negative attitudes towards work, responsibility and commitment germinate in them and before long, blossom through their entire generation.
5.         Truancy persists simply because parents, teachers and school authorities close their eyes to the overt symptoms of truancy which the incipient truant manifests long before he turns into a full truant.
6.         A fight against truancy should rather be preventive than curative.  When the appropriate persons pay close attention to the students with a view to knowing when they start playing truancy, and applying remedies, the fight would be more effective.
7.         When it was found out through the study that truancy affects society in many adverse ways, it shows that this educational problem is not as simple as it presents itself. For this reason, a remedy to it cannot just be educational in nature, but all inclusive.

5.3       RECOMMENDATIONS       
            From the findings made during the study, the following recommendations are presented as remedies to the problem of truancy in our secondary schools.
1.         Government has a major role of taking the lead in the fight against truancy. In this regard, comprehensive legislations should be passed which should take care of the following:-
(a)       Mandate parents and guidance to take fuller responsibilities of their role in funding the child’s education. Appropriate punishments should be meted out against those whose children stay away from school owing to their parents’ inability to provide adequately for them.
(b)       Compel form masters and teachers to take regular roll call of their students in order to identify those absent from school. Once  discovered, truants should be charged to juvenile courts where appropriate punishments are enforced to deters others from engaging in truancy.
(c)       The police and other agencies involved in the fight against truancy should be established and empowered periodically to comb homes, streets, market places, et c. in order to identify, apprehend and prosecute Truants.
(2)       Secondary school authorities should review the content and mode of enforcing the existing disciplinary codes against truancy, in order to discover and apply in the appropriate way, the best disciplinary measures.
(3)       Teachers should see themselves as role models. As such, they should be made to take their jobs seriously and avoid being away from school.
(4)       Students who perform poorly in examinations and tests  owing to their continued absence from school should be punished appropriately to make them change and deter others from engaging in truancy.
(5)       Public awareness campaigns should be carried out regularly by all stakeholders to sanitize the  populace on the importance of students being punctual to school and dangers of truancy.

5.4       LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY    
            In the course of this research, many problems were encountered. Some of them include:
(1)       The unwillingness of some of the respondent teachers to co-operate in the research process at the initial stage.
(2)       Adequate time was not at the researchers disposal.
(3)       Another problem was that of proximity. The schools used for the study were not located at a place, but were too far apart that not many of them could be reached within a day.
(4)       Insufficiency of funds was another serious problem. At every stage of the research process, money was always needed.
Because of these constraints. It is believed that the effects of these obstacles have manifested in the end result of this work though minimized.
It is therefore expected that other researchers will carry on further studies and investigations in this area, in order to improve on findings already made.

5.5       SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES
            Having found in the course of this study that the problem of truancy is hydra-headed; and that effective solutions appear not to be readily available; it is therefore suggested that, schools and researchers in social sciences and humanities should carry further researches on:
v The role of social institutions in the fight against truancy.
v Content and scope of existing laws against truancy in Nigeria and examination.
v Truancy and its affect on the performance of tertiary institution students in Ebonyi State.


5.6       SUMMARY        
This research which is on the effects of truancy among secondary school students in Ohaukwu local government area in Ebonyi State was carried out with the intention of finding out the causes of truancy and its effects on the academic growth of secondary school students in Ohaukwu Local Government Area. From the responses gathered through the questionnaire administered on respondents, it has been confirmed that improper management practices by school authorities, negative attitudes of teachers towards the student, in addition to inability of parents to provide their children and wards with basic school materials etc, are some of the major causes of truancy among secondary school students. All these have had negative effects on students by retarding the academic progress of students and more so, has far reaching implications on social development by increasing unemployment, social vices and immoralities.
Based on these avoidable consequences some practical suggestions were put forward. Basic among these is a call for attituditional charge by all stakeholders in the secondary education sub-sector, in order to arrest truancy and its negative effects.

5.7       CONCLUSION                  
            Though a delinquent problem, it has been firmly established that truancy is a serious threat to academic growth in Nigerian secondary schools. This can be observed through secondary schools in Ohaukwu Local Government Area. Its negative effects could be found in all aspect of social, economic and political life. Because of this, Governments, Parents, Students and Teachers should team up to implement the above recommended solutions.   

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