ADDRESSING STUDENT ABSENTEEISM: AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY

Educational attainment is an important determinant of one’s success. Yet, absenteeism among students jeopardizes their chances of achieving their educational goals. The study examined the factors that contribute to the student's absenteeism and assessed the outcomes of absenteeism on academic performance. The study used a survey and record analysis of student absenteeism. The study used a reward system as an intervention to motivate and encourage students to attend and participate in classroom activities. The weekly data was recorded for five weeks and revealed that the overall absences had decreased as the initial frequency was 30 in the first week and started reducing just after the intervention and became 20 in the 2nd week. It remained decreasing in the 3rd week with 12, 8 in the 4th week and 4 in the last week. The study found that family factors and student factors contributed to the absences of the students in class and concluded that the reward system as an intervention minimized the absences of students and encouraged participation in classroom activities. The study concluded that there is no significant difference in outcomes of absenteeism when grouped according to family factors and student factors. The result shows that p-values > 0.05, thus, the null hypothesis is accepted. The recommendation focuses on the action plan for the school in a year to improve the academic achievement of the students.