The nature of truancy and the life world of truants in secondary schools

Abstract

Truancy is one of the problems that exist in schools and affect learners' performance. The aim of the current study was to determine how truancy manifests and also to explore the life world of truants in secondary schools.

From the literature review, the two types of truancy, namely blanket truancy and post-registration truancy were described. Various programmes and approaches used in truancy intervention were explored.

An empirical investigation was undertaken with a sample of 758 Grade 10 learners from three secondary schools. The results indicated that significantly more males than females engaged in truancy. There is also a significant dependency between learning problems and truancy.

The results of the study were analysed and recommendations for intervention and for further study were made.