School non-attendance causes, scale and consequences

This paper is another attempt to view one of the most topical issues of modern education – early elimination from the educational system and to try to discover effective and long-term ways to solve this problem. The paper comprises two - theoretical and empirical - parts which are separated into 8 sections and 7 subsections. In the beginning of the research the place of the comprehensive school is being discussed as well as its functions and importance in the educational system, besides, the problem of non-attending pupils is being revealed which has recently been getting more response in the society. The latter problem is highlighted through the presented and analysed scale of non-attending pupils. One of the largest sections of the theoretical part is devoted to the cause analysis of school non-attendance and early elimination from the educational system. The causes are analysed by grouping them into four essential groups – personal psychological pedagogical; family; school; societal, then, discussing each cause group in detail. The remaining sections of the theoretical part present possible school non-attendance consequences, preventive possibilities and problem solving models. The other – empirical part of the paper was performed in one Vilnius city grammer school, where the schoolteachers and pupils were questioned. The empirical research seeked to reveal the attitude of the respondents towards the questions discussed in the theoretical part – non-attendance problem, school non-attendance causes, scale, consequences and preventive measures. The performed research showed not only the attitude of the respondents to the problem in question but also the similarities and differences of opinions of the schoolteachers and pupils. The analysis of the received data more often confirmed than denied the statements raised in the theoretical part ( e.g. the main cause for school non-attendance is unwillingness to learn which is latent – hiding actual non-attendance causes in itself etc.) The opinions of the respondents about the application of preventive measures and work with pupils having a non-attendance problem showed that as in many cases it is neither sufficient nor effective. The latter problem became a greater concern in year 2005 when the school attendance improvement project started to be implemented, lasting until year 2008. In the end of the paper the conclusions of the research, recommendations and annexes are presentedŠvietimo akademijaVytauto Didžiojo universiteta