Truancy among schoolchildren rampant
KUALA LUMPUR 30 March 2012 : Truancy, especially among primary schoolchildren, is rampant, with more than 8,000 cases registered by the Education Ministry in 2010 and last year.
Although there was a decrease from 8,313 cases in 2010 to 8,266 last year, the number of pupils playing truant and resorting to indiscipline is still high. As for secondary schools, 11,232 cases were reported in 2010 and 10,488 cases last year. Deputy Education Minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi said yesterday that the high truancy rate could be attributed to several reasons.
“Inadequate infrastructure, especially in rural and remote schools, contributed to the higher truancy rate in rural areas compared with urban schools.”
According to a survey conducted by the ministry, 58.85 per cent of truancy cases last year involved students in rural areas, as compared with 41.15 per cent in cities.
Puad said: "Poverty and lack of interest in studies are other factors contributing to truancy."
The ministry had announced in January that it was conducting a study with the Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) and Universiti Malaya on factors contributing to truancy. It expects the study to be completed in October.
Education director-general Datuk Abdul Ghafar Mahmud said the statistics indicated that students' disciplinary problems, including truancy, were under control.
"The average rate of students' disciplinary misconduct was as low as 2.07 per cent between 2007 and last year."
Ghafar said the ministry had taken measures to overcome truancy, including getting teachers to become students' mentors.
National Parent-Teacher Association president Datuk Mohd Ali Hassan said the education system, which focused too much on academic performance, was partially to blame.
"The physical and emotional development of children is not taken into account when teaching.
"This imbalance causes them (children) to lose focus and interest in their studies."
Ali said teaching methods also needed to improve as "one method that fits all" didn't work.
"One class has an average of 40 students and each of them is different. Therefore, teachers need to combine different methods for the students."
He said students who had lost interest in their studies could start a chain reaction of truancy.
MCPF vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye cited students' increasing lack of commitment to their studies as a factor.
"When not feeling committed, these students are easily influenced by their peers or other environmental factors."
He said schools could not be blamed entirely as they were "trying very hard to curb truancy".
Ibu-bapa dan pihak sekolah memainkan peranan yang penting untuk memastikan anak-anak murid sentiasa berdisiplin dan mempunyai nilai-nilai yang baik. Semoga kita boleh melahirkan anak-anak murid yang berdisiplin.
BalasPadamIbu bapa dan guru perlu saling bekerjasama untuk memastikan anak-anak berdisiplin..
Padam8,000 kes dimana pelajar terlibat dalam ponteng bukan satu jumlah kecil, pihak sekolah perlulah bekerjasama dengan ibu-bapa untuk memastikan pelajar tidak ponteng sesuka hati kerana ini bukan sahaja menjejaskan pelajaran mereka, ia juga satu tindakan yang membahayakan keselamatan mereka jika keluar sekolah tanpa awasan orang dewasa.
BalasPadamkerjasama dari semua pihak memang penting dalam membentuk keperibadian anak-anak.
Padamdalam mendidik pelajar, ia bukan tugas guru sahaja, tapi ibu bapa dan masyarakat juga kena main peranan.
BalasPadamIbu bapa harus menumpu lebih banyak masa untuk memberi isyarat yang positif kepada anak mereka.
Padamsetuju, tidak oleh jika hanya mengharapkan kepada guru semata-mata..semua perlu memainkan peranan masing-masing.
PadamDiscipline from home is very important for the children.
BalasPadamIbubapa sekarang teramat sayang anak-anaknya sehingga mereka teramat dilindungi.
Padambetul Donna, disiplin yang baik harus dipupuk bermula dari rumah.
PadamThere is need for us to monitor the kids when they are home and the teachers play the same role while they are in school.
BalasPadamTrain your children the way they should grow so that when they grow, they won’t depart from it.
BalasPadamDisciplinary measures for the kids are important these days.
BalasPadamWe need to ensure that our kids remain in school and not absent without genuine reasons
BalasPadamIts all about social sickness. There are easily to get affected.
BalasPadamIbu bapa memberi banyak alasan tidak dapat mengajar kanak-kanak. jika mereka membuat kesalahan, menunjuk jari kepada cikgu pula.
BalasPadamThe children now are way too smart and clever. That is why the parents play an important role to guide them.
BalasPadamIn the case of truancy in our society, many a truant cases recorded today are borne out of poor parental care, training, negligence, lack of discipline, poor teaching skills, general inadequacy in family skills and many others.
BalasPadamExcess love shown to children by some parents has proven to produce negative results as they grow up. Because of this trend, some parents usually leave children to do a lot of things with little or no supervision. This has caused damages to building strong and virile families across the country. When children absent themselves from classes and engage in unworthy things, they readily provide a platform for breeding many ills in the society. This is so because the children may grow up to become nuisance to the society- ranging from armed robbery, street touts, political thugs, drug addicts and other forms of societal ills.
PadamStudies have however shown that although both sexes were thought to be equally likely to skip school and hang out with friends, there was a tendency to believe that girls would avoid school more if they were experiencing social ostracism. Whereas boys, on the other hand, were thought to skip more if there was likely to be physical confrontations at school or personality conflicts with teachers.
PadamWhen children do not receive correct orientation as far as schooling is concerned, coupled with the monitoring level of the parents on their activities, they can easily stay away from schools, the resultant effects of which are enormous and always counter-productive for the society. Children who absent themselves from schools without justifiable reasons live to become a torn in the flesh of the society.
PadamTo tackle the menace, children, parents, schools as well as constituted authorities must wake up to their responsibilities. The Guidance and Counselling Unit in our schools must be functional. The social workers in the schools should also work hard to know reasons children absent themselves from classes. Having identified a problem in a child, then open a channel of dialogue and avoid bullying, as it will frighten a child and whatever advice you may have for him or her to do the right thing may fall on deaf ears.
PadamParents who face the troubles of truant children are expected not to shut down means of positive communication with threats and punishments. Communication should be their first response. It is advised that before bringing a child into the picture of what you require of him or her, parents need to do some serious emotional detective work. And in instances where a child proves difficult to volunteer information, parents should exercise patience and perseverance in handling the matter.
PadamIf parents run out of patience and cease communication with the affected children, it will lead to “a long unhappy life lived outside of the comforts of community.” The whole thing is a team work. You can also speak to good therapists and psychologists to help give appreciable advice. The way parents handle this matter is very crucial. It is also good to involve children in consulting with the school about damage control.
PadamParents must also be firm and accessible to their wards, most of the times. Be supportive in providing them with necessary tools that will make learning conducive for them even as it is important to mount special measures in monitoring their academic activities. The government is also expected to come up with strong legislation that will make education compulsory for every child. Such laws should also entail provisions that will deal decisively with truant cases in the society as it is practiced in developed countries.
PadamAntara penyebab berlakunya ponteng sekolah ialah kurang berminat terhadap pengajaran dan pelajaran di sekolah, urangnya kasih sayang serta pemantauan daripada ibu bapa, pengaruh rakan sebaya, mencari keseronokan, peraturan sekolah yang terlalu ketat dan tekanan ekonomi.
BalasPadamBagi mengatasi masalah ini bukanlah perkara yang mudah dan memerlukan komitmen dan dedikasi semua pihak. Seluruh masyarakat seharusnya memberikan kerjasama dalam mengatasi masalah ini khususnya dari segi mewujudkan satu budaya yang mementingkan ilmu serta menggalakkan pelajar rajin ke sekolah.
BalasPadamPerlu kerjasama dari semua pihak yang terlibat.
PadamJika bilangan kes ponteng sekolah ini semakin bertambah bermaksud semakin ramai anak2 yang akan tercicir dalam pelajaran.
BalasPadamDisiplin murid2/pelajar2 bukan hanya terletak pada tanggunjawb cikgu2 saja. Tapi bermula dari rumah. Ibu bapa memainkan peranan penting juga.
BalasPadamKerna cari jalan penyelesaian mengenai ponteng sekolah ini. Kerana kes ini semakin menjadi-jadi. Pasti ada sebab perkara ini berlaku.
BalasPadamhrap masalah disiplin di kalangan pelajar dapat diatasi dan semua pihak harus berganding bahu untuk menanganinya.
BalasPadampihak sekolah dan kementerian yang berkenaan perlu mengkaji masalah ini dan berusaha menyelesaikan masalah ini secara bersama daripada mengharapkan ibubapa untuk menyelesaikan masalah anak2 mereka.. ada situasi2 tertentu yang memerlukan penglibatan kerajaan untuk menyelesaikan masalah ini..
BalasPadam