The Effect Of Truancy On The Academic Performance Of Senior Secondary School Students
[A CASE STUDY OF OGBOMOSO SOUTH, OYO STATE]

There is need for counselling truants in schools. Through guidance, the individual is helped to develop in ways that will enable him to;
1.    Strengthen the use of his own abilities
2.    Make useful choice and
3.    Face the problems he will encounter in and out of school
Also commenting on the role of counselling,, Taylor (2005) says that there is a need for greater concentration of resources within the school, especially services for the delinquent, the emotionally disturbed and the anti-social. It is suggested that the primary role of the school counsellor is to be readily available in schools so that every young person in difficulty is helped.
    In conclusion, Richard (2010) describes delinquency acts as a special category of deviant acts. Every deviant act involves the violation of social rules that regulate the behaviour of participants in a social system. It is a behavioural transaction in which an actor violates the right of a victim. The deviant does not abide by the accepted rules of the game that the victims is playing. In effect, his act challenges the legitimacy and authority of these rules. It represents a departure from the system of norms to which the victim has given his consent and trust. Truancy is a deviant act. It violates the norms and rules of the school’s authority. Punctuality and regular attendance in school should be the aims of students.
Participants in a social system. It is a behavioural transaction in which an actor violates the right of a victim. The deviant does not abide by the accepted rules of the game that the victim is playing. In effect, his act challenges the legitimacy and authority of these rules. It represent a departure from the system of norms tow which the victim has given his consent and trust. Truancy the norms and rules of the school’s attendance in school should be the aims of students.
2.5    Review of Empirical Studies
    Truants have different attitudes to school attendance. On the general pattern of attitude of truants to schools attendance.
    Strong (2009) says that a truant is not always a bad boy running away form a bad school. Inappropriate programme of academic work or over-emphasis on competition could cause a child to play truant. Nicholas et al (1999), says that high school students’ views about what the aims of education should be, their personal goals in school and their perceptions of the causes of success in school were found to be related to one another in a logically consistent fashion. This means that if a students feels the goals in education are not realized, he resorts to truancy.
    He says further that beliefs that school should enable students to secure jobs bringing wealth or high occupational rank were expected to be associated with a desire for each achieved academic success (as distinct from a desire to learn or understand and with less satisfaction with learning in school. He further says that studies show that college students expect less interest in school work on the part of others whose concerns were to gain status or wealth than on the part of others who hoped to be of service or to increase their knowledge. On the cause of success in school, he says that perceptions of the causes of success in school are related to personal goals in school and belief about the purposes of education.
    From the studies carried out by different researchers, probable causes have been arrived at and ways of tackling the problems have been suggested.
In order to deal with these problems, there has been a consensus that truants should be helped through counselling to adjust to their environment. Motivation goes a long way to help truants to accept themselves and develop high self-esteem. When they think highly of themselves, they will be able to adapt to any type of environment or situation they find themselves in and thus feel compelled to attend classes no matter the situation at home, school and the society in general.
    Mussen, Conger and Kegan (2010) stated that socio-economic problem and parent-child relationship could contribute to delinquent behaviour. Inconsistent administration of reward and punishment by parents teach their children the response values and benefits appropriate for their social class. Class training for the child ranges from the control of his manners to his educational and occupational goals.
    It may be said that the economic status of the parents may contribute to truancy. If the parents are unable to provide the students with the basic school needs, they may be forced to go out of the school to look for such needs. More so, from the related literature reviewed, it was discovered that even students in possession of surplus money still play truancy.