Understanding Student Absenteeism: A Quantitative Study

Abstract

The study aims to identify the reasons behind students' absenteeism behaviour in the selected schools of Al-Ain state of UAE. For the said purpose, the problem was identified based on the government reports, and a detailed literature review was conducted which helped in the identification of causes behind students’ absenteeism behaviour, in general and specifically in UAE region. Taking the underpinning support of social learning theory, the framework was developed. The data was collected using a structured questionnaire, from 202 respondents. After ensuring the validity and reliability of the instrument and the data, structural equation modelling was applied. The findings confirmed that school environment, school motivational factors, and school interventional factors have a significant relationship with student absenteeism. The study recommended that School mechanisms need to be enhanced and the student motivational factors should be introduced in the schools to improve the attendance level or to decrease the absenteeism behaviour among the students. The study ended up with conclusions and limitation, for the future researchers and policy makers.