TYPES OF WARNING AND TRUANCY FACTORS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN SABAH

This study aims to identify truancy based on warning letters, main contributory factor towards truancy and the relationship with truancy among form four students in daily secondary schools of the Keningau district, Sabah. A total of 252 students comprising 124 (49%) males and 128 (51%) females who had received the first (3–10 days), second (11–20 days) and third ( 20 days) warning letter consistently, participated in this study. The instrument for measuring truancy is adapted from Ng (2005), which in itself was adapted from the Guide to Overcome Truancy Problems in Schools (Ministry of Education, 1994). The original questionnaire consists of 40 items, but after the pilot study, only 39 items were used. The findings in this study show that the majority of students who played truant had received their first warning (3–10 days) followed by a second warning, which consisted of 34 (13.5%) students and finally the third warning ( 20 days) with a total of 12 (4.8%) students. The findings show that the main factors that contribute to truancy are the students themselves, followed by the school and the family. There is a relationship between family factors with truancy. However, there is no correlation between the school, students themselves and their peers to truancy. Factors such as waking up late, absent without a medical certificate, lack of concentration while studying, bored with the unattractive school atmosphere, fear of the discipline teacher and transportation problems are the main causes of truancy among school children. The implication of the study is that it helps the school, parents, District Education Office and the Ministry of Education to formulate strategies in the efforts to address truancy problems among students in this country.