Factors influencing students absenteeism in a primary school / Aishath Shameem

Abstract
Students' absenteeism has become a huge issue in schools. There are many causes, which influence a child getting absent. The purpose of this study is to find out the reasons why students get absent to the school, according to students, parents and teachers. A qualitative case study was done to gather information needed for the research. A school from Gn. Fuvahmulah was purposefully selected for the study and 13 participants were selected, among which there were seven students, three teachers and three parents. The instrument which used for data collection was semi-structured interviews and the data was analyzed by using a thematic approach.
The finding of this research suggest that there were three key factors which influence students' absenteeism. They are school factor, student factor and parental factor. From this research it was found out that different stakeholders (teachers, students and parents) in the school seems to have a different opinion regarding student's absenteeism. According to students' opinion the main reason for their absence is due to carelessness of parents and their own health issues. In addition, students highlighted that student's get absent due to poor relationship between teacher and students, and the way of teaching. Meanwhile, parents consider health issue as the key factor of their child's absenteeism. In addition, parents firmly agreed that parents' responsibility plays a vital role in their child's attendance to school. Key influential factor identified by the teachers as the reason of students' absenteeism is parents' negligence. Other than this, teachers and parents highlighted that students' health, and student teacher relationship and teaching strategies impact students' attendance in school.
The study concludes by identifying some of the recommendation for practice as well as for further studies which may be useful for improving students' attendance.