Factors responsible for truancy among students as expressed by secondary school teachers in Ilorin, Nigeria: Implications for counselling

Abstract

Truancy has been found as one of the first indicator of academic failure, suspension, expulsion and delinquency. Reports showed that there is alarming rate of truancy in public secondary schools all over the nation. Various stakeholders in education sector are putting in their best to reduce truancy such as school counsellors, psychologists, teachers, school administrators, government, and parents, it is still persisting in various secondary schools in Nigeria. Therefore, this study investigated factors responsible for truancy among students as expressed by secondary school teachers in Ilorin, Nigeria: Implications for counselling. The population of the study comprised 893 teachers in both public and private schools in Ilorin metropolis. A sample of 287 from the three Local Government in Ilorin was used. This is a descriptive survey design. A self-developed questionnaire entitled" Factors Responsible for Truancy questionnaire (FRTQ)" was used. The data was analyzed based on the research question and the hypotheses. The only research question was answered using mean and rank order while the research hypotheses was tested using t- test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 0.05 level of significant. The findings revealed that unmet basic needs like food, clothing or shelter; lack of interest or engagement in school activities and family issues such as parental neglect; peer pressure; bullying or harassment at school are common factors responsible for truancy among students. There were significant differences in the factors responsible for truancy among students as expressed by secondary school teachers in Ilorin, Nigeria based on gender and age while there were no significant differences on school type and educational qualification. It was recommended that Schools, in collaboration with government agencies and non-governmental organizations, should implement support programs for students facing unmet basic needs, such as food, clothing or shelter. Initiatives like school feeding programmes, clothing drives, and partnerships with social services can help alleviate the factors that may lead students to skip school. Also, School Counsellors should advocate for school policies and programmes that can motivate students to long for schooling. Moreover, School Counsellors should create engaging school activities to foster a positive school climate.