This topic seeks to address the destructiveness of truancy and the subsequent deviant behavioural patterns that are associated with truancy. Truants are individuals who, for a variety of reasons have made the decision not to attend class or who has decided not to go to school at all. Truancy has become a national problem and more importantly, a local challenge which negatively influences the future of our children. Students who do not attend school are at risk of engaging in behaviour involving alcohol, drugs, violence and other criminal conduct. This includes students who attend only a portion of school day.
The fallout of truancy has a near immediate negative impact upon the truant, the parents, the community, the school district, and the students who make the decision to stay in school. (Repowerup, 2010). These group analyzed the individual effects of truancy thus;
Students who skip class or school, immediately fall behind in the curriculum set for them by the school. The school suffer the blight and the lowering of its overall scoring and performance which justifies what school is awarded certain educational benefits and programs. No school district administration will reward schools with high truancy and low scoring and performance. School whose students performance is above standards are awarded programs designed to help students perform better. Therefore, since this cannot be given to such school with high rate of truancy, the real victims of truancy becomes the students who choose to go to school everyday and put forth an effort to succeed. Unfortunately for them, it is not as simple as transferring to a better performing school to escape being the collateral damage of someone else’s destructive actions.
The community also suffers in that truancy puts it at risk of becoming a victim of deviant behaviour. Students who commit truancy, commit deviant acts at a higher rate than students who stay in school. Deviant acts include, but are not limited to theft, burglary, robbery, drug abuse, assault, various sex-related crimes and even murder. For the hard working people of the community, every truant represents an increased chance they or their property may become a victim of some deviant act.
These views of Repowerup conforms with Dittimiya, who in 2001 opines that truancy has greatly affected the development of human resources needed for economic and social transformation of the Nigerian society. To him, truancy is a distractive and an undeserving element in the Nigerian school system, which makes it impossible for students to fully comprehend the whole aim of education, examination and public morality. It does not encourage development; rather it retards the progress of schools and the entire society. In Ohaukwu local government area, there are many standard secondary schools measuring up to expectation, but there are yet students who indulge in truancy and are seen not to be measuring up to full academic standards, even when they are naturally brilliant.
In recent times, it has been discovered that a high percentage of the crimes committed in the Nigerian society are by secondary school students. And from the findings based on reviewed literature, it has been proved that most of the crimes are committed during school periods than during holidays. Truancy also leads to repetition of classes by truants and subsequently, they drop out from school and become social nuisance. The males drop out and mostly take to armed robbery while their female counterparts resort to prostitution.
A study carried out in some selected secondary schools in Nkanu west local government area of Enugu State in 2003 by Geo-opha revealed that out of 168 sample students; 58 were identified as truants while 110 were non-truants, but engaged in other delinquent acts. Four sample questions were used to guide the research, tested with the chi-square, the findings revealed that truants are noted for poor academic performance, and that both male and female children from broken homes commit more acts of truancy. Again, Chiakpu’s study among secondary schools in Enugu East Local Government Area in 2007 revealed that the age at which truancy begins to manifest in students is between 12 and 15 years. Fifteen questions were used for the study.
The above research and findings is not too far from what could be seen in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State which goes a long way to suggest what could be done to combat the problems associated with truancy.
SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW In the course of reviewing the literature related to the concept of truancy in secondary schools, certain vital issues have been discussed. From the arrays of views shared by authors and scholars whose work were reviewed, it can be argued that the loss of the community begins with the students who skips class or school. It can also be put that it is the parent’s fault and even the school’s fault. But no one person or group should be blamed for the loss of the community.
The loss of the community is like a “fire triangle the community is made up of three major elements; family, school and peers influence. When one of the elements are taken out or impacted, the community breaks down. The fallout of the community break down includes such behaviour as truancy. Students should understand their important role as the next community of leaders and maintainers. Young people who understand their role as community leaders and maintainers are more often willing to accept their responsibility including young people who were once truants.
The review also looked at the various causes of truancy among secondary school students which include the student’s background, school factors, socio-economic situation of students and peer group influence.
Finally, it was discovered in the course of the literature review that some studies carried out in Nigeria have already shed some light on some areas related to
this study and this has helped to streamline the direction of the study.
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