The causes of low school attendance of grade 5 and 6 learners at a primary school in the Zambezi Region

Abstract

The low school attendance of learners is one of the major causes of learners’ poor academic performances. Absenteeism affects learners’ ability to get higher scores in the examination which may result in the learner failing, and repeating the same grade. This paper investigated the reasons for the low school attendance of learners at a selected school in the Zambezi Region of Namibia. The main objective was to find out factors that were causing the low school attendance of learners and the most effective strategies that the school was using to improve the school attendance of the learners. A one on one interview strategy was employed whereby prepared questions were asked to the participants. Open-ended questions were used throughout the interview. The answers provided during the interviews were recorded as per participant in the study. The attendance registers for the selected school and the selected grades which are grade 5A to D and grade 6A to D were collected and reviewed. These attendance registers only covered term one to show the attendance of learners for that specific term. The findings revealed that factors influencing school attendance broadly include; school conditions, homebased behavioral issues, peer issues, psychological issues, school-based behavioral issues, family background, illnesses, as well as lack of motivation or lack of interest in school.