Assessment of school absenteeism: A community-based study among children aged 7-18 years in a slum of Kolkata (original) (raw)

Determinants of Absenteeism Among Primary School Children in the EAG States of India

2020

Introduction: Enrolment in school in India does not necessarily translate into attendance, and absenteeism is an early indicator of lower levels of academic performance and school dropout and has its origins in early life. EAG states of India already have some of the lowest school enrolment rates; therefore, it becomes necessary to keep the children in school by curtailing absenteeism to reduce the dropout rates. Objective: This study attempts to understand the factors which affect absenteeism and chronic absenteeism in EAG states. Data and Analysis: This study uses IHDS-II (2012) data for children 8-11 years of age currently enrolled in primary school. Bivariate analysis and logistic regression analysis are done. Results: The results show that children were more likely to be absent when experiencing morbidity (OR:1.9, 95% CI 1.6-2.3) got a beating in school (OR:1.3, 95% CI 1.0-1.6) and repeating grade morbidity (OR:1.5, 95% CI 1.1-2.1). Children were more likely to be chronically a...

Students' Absenteeism: A Silent Killer of Universal Secondary Education (Use) in Uganda

2014

Education has a huge impact on any human society and it can safely be assumed that no society is optimally functional until it is properly educated. In the global perspective, it is an undeniable fact that the progress of a nation is very much dependent on the education of its citizens. Similarly, in Uganda education is a fundamental human right and it is the duty of the state to promote free and compulsory education to the citizens. This constitutional mandate gave birth to free education from primary to secondary under Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) since 1997 and 2007 respectively. The purpose of this study was to investigate the major causes of students' absenteeism; and the possible solutions to the vices in Universal Secondary Education Schools in Uganda. The study applied a descriptive cross sectional research design. The study also employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches/methods. Data was collected using secondary and primary sources. Secondary sources consisted of publications, reports and literature related to students' absenteeism whist primary data was collected using questionnaires and interviews. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics from the study population of one thousand (1000) constituting a sample of 278 respondents of which 226 returned their fully completed questionnaires giving a response rate at 81.3%; obtained from 17 out of 36 USE schools in the four (4) districts of Serere, Ngora, Soroti and Kumi comprised of 07, 04, 03, and 03 USE schools respectively. The four districts were considered because they have all categories of secondary schools in Uganda. The study findings showed that; Lack of scholastic requirements, household work, lack of interest in education, hunger at school/lack of midday meals, sexual harassment at school, long distance to school, illness or disease, loss of parent or close relative, peer influence, and harsh punishment at school were the top ten (10) causes of students' absenteeism in USE schools respectively. These causes were both un excused (64.5%) and excused (35.5%). Furthermore, the empirical study also shows that; the average rate of students' absenteeism is 23.18% in day schools as compared to 3.25% in boarding schools. The mainly affected categories were; children from poor families, children living far from school, female students, orphans, disabled, male students, and children living with single parent as reported by the respondents during the study. The study recommends that; parents understand their responsibility, government reduces taxes on scholastics materials/provides them free, improve the household income, the government and development partners to support school feeding programme, need to introduce open schooling system, and schools be held accountable for improving attendance, and finally, future researchers should examine the relationship between the District Education Officers and Secondary Schools Administration; Teacher qualification and students' academic performance, and Effects of students absenteeism on students' academic/school performance.

School Dropout: An Enquiry in the Rural Areas of Palghar Taluka

Schooling has been made compulsory for all children under fourteen. The government spending on education is being raised to six per cent of the GDP. Incentives are being given to schools with best student and teacher attendance. The Government sponsored Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Universal Elementary Education), focuses on increasing enrolment rates and reducing drop-out rates. The reasons for dropout in the primary education system have been persistently disturbing not only in an emerging economy like India but also in other developing countries. Dropout by children does not mean mere refusal of attending school. It leads to wastage of the funds invested in school buildings, teachers’ salaries, equipment, textbooks and so on. This paper reports the results of a survey conducted to examine the root causes leading to student dropout in Palghar district Maharashtra.

Children out of school:Evidence from the Community Survey

2009

1 Attendance data are derived from question 26 of the survey: “Is the person currently attending an educational institution?” The data refer to attendance at a point in time, and do not necessarily indicate regular attendance at school. These figures are also slightly lower than the enrolment figures calculated from the Department of Education SNAP surveys. Section 3(1) in the South Africa Schools Act requires that all children “attend school from the first school day of the year in which such learner reaches the age of seven years until the last day of the year in which such learner reaches the age of fifteen years or the ninth grade whichever comes first”. This period of compulsory schooling from grades 1 – 9 corresponds to the right to basic education that is guaranteed by section 29(1)(a) in the Constitution. Since 1994, South Africa has made significant strides in improving access to basic education, yet a recent survey suggests that approximately 400,000 children are still out...