Abstract

This study explored the causes and impacts of truancy among secondary school students in Oredo Local Government Area, Edo State. It had three objectives: to explore the level of truancy, to determine its causes, and to examine its impacts. Data were collected through questionnaires, an interview guide and documents. Responses were analysed by frequency counts and presented in tables. The sample comprised 99 participants. The findings identified several factors that influence truancy. These included the absence of administrative strategies in schools for managing truancy, corporal punishment, low student expectations of school, negative peer groups, distance from home to school, unreliable transport, adverse weather in the rainy season, differences in parents' socio-economic status, family breakdown, the lack of a clear school policy on truancy, parents' detachment from their children's academic progress, and teachers' weak relationships with students. The study recommends that the government, through the Ministry of Education, strengthen attendance regulations, that parents be involved more closely in their children's schooling, and that teachers be attentive to students' problems so that they can offer timely help.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY

1.1 Introduction

This chapter presents the background to the problem, the statement of the problem, the purpose and objectives of the study, the research questions, the significance of the study, the conceptual framework, the delimitations and limitations, and the definition of terms.

1.2 Background to the Problem

1.2.1 The concept of truancy

Truancy is commonly defined as unauthorised absence from school. Scholars describe it as the deliberate avoidance of school without a valid reason. Isah and Muhammad (2025) review definitions that treat truancy as intentional, unjustified and unauthorised absence from compulsory education, and they note that it usually excludes legitimate absences such as those caused by illness. A student who stays away from school, or leaves it, without the permission of both parents and school authorities is a truant. Truancy can take several forms. A student may miss whole days, arrive late, leave after break, or attend school but skip particular lessons. Authors also distinguish habitual, casual, occasional, chronic and intermittent patterns (Isah & Muhammad, 2025). Students who miss school frequently or for long periods are classified as truants.

1.2.2 Truancy as an educational problem

Truancy is recognised as a problem in formal education systems in many countries. Hasan, Uddin, Younos, Mukta and Zahid (2023) studied its prevalence among school-going adolescents in three South Asian countries and its links with potential risk and protective factors. Isah and Muhammad (2025) describe it as a serious challenge in Nigeria. They argue that it affects academic performance, school discipline and national development, and that it often accompanies other antisocial behaviour. They also note that it can lead to social and psychological maladjustment and may later contribute to adult criminality.

1.2.3 Causes of truancy

The literature groups the causes of truancy into several categories (Isah & Muhammad, 2025):

• Family causes. These include broken homes, parental conflict, poverty, unemployment and psychological instability among parents. Children from such homes may become frustrated and withdraw from school.
• Personal causes. Learning difficulties, physical or sensory impairments, low self-esteem and feelings of inferiority can lead students to avoid school.
• School-related causes. If students find school unengaging, fall behind or have no outlet for their energy, they may avoid it. Falling behind then produces further absences, which is a vicious cycle.
• Teacher-related causes. Unfair or detached teachers and a dislike of particular subjects or classmates can push students away.
• Peer-group causes. Negative peer relationships and a lack of recognition among peers can frustrate students and lead to truancy.
• Community causes. Poor community support for schools, negative influences such as substance abuse and gang activity, and inadequate transport when schools are far from home also contribute.

Empirical work from Edo State points in a similar direction. Obiunu and Ozuri (2018) surveyed secondary school adolescents using a correlational design and found significant relationships between home background and truancy, and between peer group pressure and truancy. They found no significant relationship between gender and truancy. This finding is relevant to the question, raised in this study, of why truants are more numerous among male students. Sheldon (2002) similarly showed that family and community involvement can improve student attendance, which suggests that parental distance from schooling is a risk factor.

1.2.4 Consequences of truancy

Truancy has short-term and long-term consequences. In the short term, it is linked to maladjustment, poor academic performance, dropout, substance abuse and delinquency. In the long term, it is associated with unemployment, poverty and involvement in crime (Isah & Muhammad, 2025). At the societal level, widespread truancy and dropout produce a less educated workforce, lower productivity and higher unemployment, which weaken national development.

1.2.5 The Nigerian and Oredo context

Nigeria's Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act of 2004 makes basic education free and compulsory (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004). Ensuring that enrolled students actually attend is therefore central to the goal of expanding access to education. Oredo Local Government Area, which includes Benin City, the capital of Edo State, has a large urban secondary school population. In such an area, enrolment figures alone do not show whether students are attending, and truancy can undermine the investment made in schools.

1.3 Statement of the Problem

In every education system, enrolment and regular attendance go together. Communities and governments in Nigeria have responded to the call for wider access to basic and secondary education by establishing schools. Truancy, however, interferes with the aim of expanding education. Figures from education officials in the study area indicated large gaps between the number of students registered and the number who attended classes regularly.

If this pattern continues, the efforts of government and local communities to provide education for most young people will be weakened. Schools register reasonable numbers of students, but for reasons that have not been established, many abscond from lessons. A study was therefore needed to inform government and the public about the real causes of dropout linked to truancy in Oredo Local Government Area.

Research elsewhere has identified causes of truancy, but it is not clear whether those causes apply in Oredo. Several questions remain. Are other causes at work in the area? Why might truants be more numerous among male students? Why is attendance poorer in particular seasons? Do parents cooperate with teachers to find the causes of truancy and design strategies against it? These questions justified further investigation of the causes and impacts of truancy among secondary school students in Oredo Local Government Area, Edo State.

1.4 Purpose and Objectives of the Study

The purpose of the study was to explore the causes and impacts of truancy among secondary school students in Oredo Local Government Area, Edo State.

Specific objectives. The study sought:

1. to explore the level of truancy in Oredo Local Government Area;
2. to determine the causes of truancy in Oredo Local Government Area; and
3. to explore the impact of truancy in Oredo Local Government Area.

1.5 Research Questions

1. What is the level of truancy in Oredo Local Government Area, Edo State?
2. What factors cause truancy in Oredo Local Government Area, Edo State?
3. What are the impacts of truancy in Oredo Local Government Area, Edo State?

1.6 Significance of the Study

1. It raises awareness among school administrators and other stakeholders about the causes of truancy in secondary schools.
2. It helps policymakers to design policies and programmes that keep students in school and prepare them with relevant skills.
3. It shows the public strategies that can reduce truancy in community schools.
4. It gives school counsellors and teachers evidence on which interventions, such as counselling, closer parental involvement and attendance monitoring, are suited to local conditions (Isah & Muhammad, 2025).
5. It adds to the Nigerian literature on school attendance and provides a basis for later research.

1.7 Conceptual Framework

The study rests on the view that truancy results from the interaction of several groups of factors, and that it produces consequences at the levels of the student, the school and society. The framework identifies the following.

• Causal factors: family, personal, school, teacher, peer and community factors (Isah & Muhammad, 2025; Obiunu & Ozuri, 2018).
• Truancy: unauthorised absence from school, in its various forms.
• Consequences: poor academic performance, dropout, delinquency and, in the long term, unemployment and weakened national development.

1.8 Delimitations of the Study

The study covered the causes and impacts of truancy among secondary school students in Oredo Local Government Area, Edo State. It did not cover other local government areas or other levels of education.

1.9 Limitations of the Study

A limitation is a condition beyond the researcher's control that may restrict the conclusions of a study and their application to other situations. The researcher faced the following limitations.

1. Family problems that lasted four months in succession.
2. Competing duties at the researcher's place of work.
3. Reluctance among some school heads to release truancy and dropout data, which they considered confidential.
4. Bureaucratic procedures in obtaining regional data. The researcher spent considerable time seeking data from the regional education office without success.

1.10 Definition of Terms

Truancy: Intentional, unauthorised and unjustified absence from school, including leaving school or skipping lessons without permission (Isah & Muhammad, 2025).

Truant: A student who is absent from school, or from lessons, without permission from the school or parents.

Dropout: A student who leaves school before completing the course of study.

Secondary school students: Students enrolled in junior and senior secondary schools in the study area.

1.11 Organisation of the Study

Chapter One introduces the study. Chapter Two reviews related literature. Chapter Three describes the research methodology. Chapter Four presents and analyses the data. Chapter Five summarises the findings, draws conclusions and makes recommendations.

References

Federal Republic of Nigeria. (2004). Compulsory, free universal basic education act, 2004. Federal Government Press.

Hasan, M. K., Uddin, H., Younos, T. B., Mukta, N. A. H., & Zahid, D. (2023). Prevalence of truancy among school-going adolescents in three South Asian countries: Association with potential risk and protective factors. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 28(1), Article 2242480.

Isah, J., & Muhammad, H. (2025). Truancy behaviour: Implications and psychological interventions among out-of-school children in Kaduna State. Journal of Educational Research and Development, 20(2), 64–71.

Obiunu, J. J., & Ozuri, R. (2018). Home background, peer group pressure and truancy among secondary school adolescent students in Edo State, Nigeria. International Journal of Emerging Trends in Social Sciences, 3(1), 46–51.

Sheldon, S. B. (2002). Present and accounted for: Improving student attendance through family and community involvement. The Journal of Educational Research, 95(5), 308–318.