IMPACT OF PARENTS' FINANCIAL LEVEL, PERSONALITY AND RESIDENTIAL AREA ON SCHOOL TRUANCY AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN ABA

Abstract

Truancy among secondary school students is the concern of teachers, counsellors, school administrators, parents and members of the public.This study investigated the impact of parents' financial level, personality type and residential area on school truancy among secondary school students in Aba, Abia state of Nigeria. Threenull hypotheses were postulated and tested for the investigation. Using convenience sampling technique,400 participants were selected for the study. They comprised of 200 males and 200 females whose ages ranged from 11 to 20 years with a mean age of 15.02 and standard deviation of 3.03 years. The participants were administered with TypeA Behaviour Scale (TABS) and School Truancy Questionnaire (STQ). Data was collected using a Cross Sectional Survey Design, while a 3-way Analysis of Variance on SPSS version 20 was the major statistic used to analyse the data. Results showed that parents' financial level and residential area did not significantly have impact on truanting behaviour of students while personality type significantly impacted on truancy among secondary school students in Aba. The study recommendsthat personality assessment be made part of the school curriculum in secondary Schools. With this, necessary counselling services would be provided in secondary schools which in turn would aid in reduction of truancy among secondary school students.