School absenteeism and the roles of family and school

Abstract

It is acknowledged that scholastic absenteeism is the result of multiple factors. Usually parents are held responsible when their children do not obey the demands of attendance in schooling. But on the other hand, the school a child attends is also seen as a factor in regular attendance. This article uses multilevel analyses to examine how family- and school-related factors affect a child’s truant behaviour. In doing so, non-truancy is considered as well as occasional, frequent and heavy absenteeism. It appears that both the family and the school are important factors in absenteeism, while parents’ reactions seem to have the most important effect.