A Case Study on Absenteeism among 4Ps Students

Case Study from the year 2019 in the subject Communications - Research, Studies, Enquiries, grade: 95, , course: Senior High School, language: English, abstract: This is a study on the absenteeism committed by the 4Ps beneficiaries despite the support from the government. Consistent school attendance is critical if students are to build and maintain a foundation for ongoing learning and academic success throughout life. When students are not in attendance, they miss essential instruction, which often cannot be replicated. This case study describes the experiences of five (5) high school students identified with chronic student absenteeism from a purposefully selected junior and senior high 4Ps student beneficiaries of T. National Agricultural School. Through a semi-structured interview process the study sought to understand the reasons of absenteeism of those students identified with chronic student absenteeism, along with the voices of their parents and teachers. The findings reveal that despite the support from the government through the 4Ps fund, students do make absences due to peer influence, financial problem, family concerns, lack of interest and illness. These show a clear manifestation of an existing program that needs a thorough evaluation in coming up with a rational solution to the problem. With the prevailing absenteeism problem among the 4Ps beneficiaries, their academic performance suffered a big blow on their grades prompting them to do some measures to pass the subjects. Hence, to compensate what they have missed, special projects and activities were done to cope with the situation. In light with the findings, teachers should come up with a more serious and strict monitoring mode of attendance of the 4Ps beneficiaries. With this, a strong bond between the parents and the teachers to work together should be developed to closely monitor the students' activities regularly. Likewise, the school should involve the students in academic awakening activities as one of the measures used to reduce absenteeism and ultimately, increase academic performance. Because of poverty, many families are left deprived of their basic needs. The children are forced to stop going to school to help their families. With this as the main ground, the Philippine government initiated a program called the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) to address poverty in response to the country's commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This program aims to provide cash assistance to the less fortunate to alleviate their immediate needs and break the intergenerational transmission and cycle of poverty.