The impacts of truancy in academic performance among secondary school students: A case study of Kigamboni Ward in Temeke Municipality

Abstract- Truancy is any intentional unauthorized absence from compulsory schooling. This refers to absences caused by students of their own free will and not caused by poor medical conditions. also refer to students who attend school but do not go to classes (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Truancy is the serious problem in Tanzania especially in cities. The Ministry of Education and Vocational Training reported that in 2009/10 Form II has the highest number of student drop outs which stands at 9,627 per annum and the main reasons for drop out were truancy 36.2 % and pregnancies 20.4 % (URT, 2011). Although some studies have been done on the matter, many have been focusing on the causes, without putting into consideration the impacts in academic performance. Therefore this study intended to investigate the impacts of truancy in academic performance among secondary school students