Eating Christmas in the Kalahari | Essay

Eating Christmas in the Kalahari EssayEating Christmas in the KalahariAbstractRichard Borshay leeward was a accessible anthropologist that had lived with and studied the s come onhern Tswana tribe. In Eating Christmas in the Kalahari Richard Borshay lee side introduces us to roughly very useful techniques in social science. What he decided to do was take part in an ox Christmas festivity. Mr. lee(prenominal) felt he had to crumple a bribe because the tribal community thought he was a miser, this was due to the fact the Mr. lee(prenominal) had been in that respect for quite several(prenominal) era and never sh ard his food. being Christmas and both(prenominal) sides believing in this spiritual holi solar solar daytime, he felt stimulate to sh atomic lean 18. Ultimately, his beliefs does not coincide with the Kung sight and we witness the power of socializing shape upnts. crimsontide though Mr. Lee had lived with and was intermeshed in every part of the Kung masse ss lives, he was still an outsider and alien to the comp either. It seems after Mr. Lee decided to find out the ox Christmas festival, he felt it would be a nice gesture to buy an ox to eat at the solemnisation. Among the Kungs, the slaughtering of an ox is a custom. After choosing the ox to bring to the festival, the Bushmen started complaining and c every last(predicate)ing the ox old and skinny. To Mr. Lee, the ox looked big, fat and perfect for the Christmas celebration and the reaction of the Kung Bushmen mess leave him very insulted. His feelings and how he perceived the Bushmens reaction was credibly founded on his avouch culture, where mickle ar supposed to respect differentwisewise peoples generosity no matter the outcome. But to the Bushmen, boastful an ox was no more than what they usu every(prenominal)y do every day, and was nothing special. After consulting with cultural experts, Mr. Lee discovers the natives viewpoint. In the kungs culture, things mor e than(prenominal) as gifts and generosity are appreciated. However, it is not easily sh let and endlessly behind closed doors. Their cultural belief is that it egress cause more harm to praise any individual even for a profession advantageously d unrivalled. They believe by boosting just or soones ego it depart eventually s hearty his pride to the point where he may bulge out just aboutone. The Kungs survival is based on their sentiency of the environment nearly them and how people act and think in the society. This I think would be a good thing as long as people were not taken for granted.Why did the kung peoples insult get to Mr. Lee so extensively? I feel the anthropologist thought he had gone done so much to choose, and buy the ox for the Kungs dear to be ridiculed for his efforts. Lee finally received the message of what the Kungs were trying to trust out, and this was the concept that there is some motive behind every gift and somehow, someway the gift test ament be repaid. However, I must take issue with this concept and disagree with the Kungs.This is supported by the fact, every day I see many charitable acts, and the people that are giving, open no sprightlinession of receiving praise or anything in return. There are many cultural rules just about gift giving in our society. Gifts in our society are lay outn over in celebrations and special occasions. Usually in our society, the measuring spent on the gift is based on the rareness or the size of the event taking place. Mr. Lees views brought on by his own cultural beliefs, left him feeling inadequate and insulted. But to the Kungs, it was an terrene occurrence and reaction.To understand the kungs is to understand and accept people of different cultures. This is dually tell in the above paragraphs. The Kungs who live in the Kalahari were raise quite new(prenominal) than than someone who grew up in the society we live in today. In accepting gifts in our country, we always say thank you and how much we appreciate it. This praise gives us a feeling of arrogance knowledgeable that the telephone receiver really likes our gift. In different cultures there are different guidelines. The people of the kung tribe think badly of individuals that show arrogance. To eliminate these characteristics in the children, they were raised to mock and make fun of others while doing things such as search and viable activities. And by telling Mr. Lee that his ox was skinny and old, they were lastly doing him a tremendous favor fit in to their cultural beliefs. As in contrast to our beliefs that characteristics such as bulling and mocking is very wrong. However sometimes in our society we see arrogance as a nix quality but it is not always discouraged in the corresponding manner.Agents of Socialization was a strong influence in the article that Mr. Lee wrote. The feeling of being insulted still came from his own inadequacies and the way he was taught in his society. H is status while being among the tribe was less than in his own society and also contributed to his feelings. His cultural values were very different than that of the Kung people, and in time he came to understand and accept their attitudes learned as a social assembly. He realized that even though it was a celebration known to people of his culture, it could also sustain a part of the Kung tribe. This is a documentation of another instance of how different societies of people distinguish themselves from one another with certain customs and disparitys, and how they conduct themselves socially.ReferencesScavetta, Charlene (February 22, 2009). Eating Christmas in the Kalahari, Richard Borshay Lee. . retrieved 9/23/2014, from Athropology 1001 Web Site http//scavettacharlene.blogspot.com/2009/02/eating-christmas-in-kalahari-richard.htmlThatPresence ( declination 2005 ). Eating Christmas in the Kalahari . retrieved 9/23/2014, from StudyMode.com Web Site http//www. adoptmode.com/essay s/Eating-Christmas-In-The-Kalahari-74594.htmlOntaneda, Ana (February 22, 2009). Eating Christmas in the Kalahari . retrieved 9/23/2014, from anthropology Web Site http//unam0ur.blogspot.com/2009/02/ana-ontaneda-february-22-2009-ant-1001.htmlResearch into hooky Causes and EffectsResearch into hooky Causes and EffectsIntroductory orientationTruancy is about savants who have not been attending take on a regular tooshie as required by the train, parents and even the authorities. missing conduct is a line of work for the individual, the family, the cultivate and society in general. Free and compulsory education is recognized as a base entitlement under inter interior(a) standards, including the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the throng of the Rights of the Child (1989) and the European Convention on Human Rights (1950).With the right to barren education and the obligation corresponding to this right observed and enforced through a internal emph asis on shoaltime attendance, The National Statistic touch (Malta) soils that in the 2004/2005 scholastic year the persona for schooling absenteeism accounted for 7.7% of the total frame of school long time in the reference period or an general absence seizure seizure order of 9.2 absent geezerhood per schoolchild that for boys being 10.0 old age per pupil and for girls 8.4 days per pupil. As a t each(prenominal)(prenominal)er this makes me fretful about pupils shake collide withing school as this can be associated with subsequent stirred and psychosocial problems in early adulthood and is a predictor of multiple problems (Fogelman and Hibbert, 1990).Truancy may have both short and long term personal effects on society. There is turn up that hooky is linked to creaky behavior and juvenile crime (Collins, 1998 Reid, 1999). According to Jones (1996),Absenteeism is a sign of trouble that ofttimes leads to deplorableer academic skills and grades, delinquency, and dropouts. Studies have shown that high school dropouts are double as likely to be unemployed and on welfare, and general, tend to be lining a more difficult life sentence than their graduating counterparts.Jones (1996 p.128),All members who skeletal frame part of any educational institution cannot allow these students to give up on themselves. We as a modern, fast developing society, we cannot afford to let them surrender. It is clearly far less expensive to educate them than pay for a lifetime of welfare and all of the deprivations that welfare represents.These are ominous issues, which refer that the estimate of students who skip school is rising and that school absenteeism is a naked generations behaviour that is today a dramatic social phenomenon. This proposal drafts the intent to investigate and look realities of how hooky manifests with Maltese youth and also explore the psychosocial world of hooky players in Maltese schools.Problem AnalysisThe Pre-Scientific P roblem awarenessAs a supply teacher for these knightly five years, I have witnessed incidences of hooky in the period 2006 to 2009. One of the common hooky reducation measures used was to lock the school gates during lessons and breaks and open them after school hours (my personal exsperience). Despite the limited impact on hooky reducation, the climax of locking gates is still common and evident in some second-string schools. I found locked gates while visiting some of the schools. Gangsters, to control late coming and to stop learners from dodging family unites, locked gates to observe trespassing, sepecially.Exploring the problemIncidence and personality of truancyMaltaSince 1946 education has been compulsory for all children between six to fourteen years and extended to the age of 16 by the Education Act (Malta) of 1971. Maltese law imposes a traffic on parents to ensure that their children of compulsory school age receive trance education, whether through attendance a t a state or self-reliant school. If they fail to do so, without any primer coatable excuse and if found guilty, they are liable to a fine not exceeding in previous currency one Maltese Lira (equivalent to 2.33) for each day during which the crime continues, unless the parent fails to give a good and sufficient explanation inside three days from the date he or she receives a board from the Director of Education (Malta Education Act 1988).From January 2001 up to December 2002 there were 8,903 arraignments before the local anaesthetic tribunals in connection with school absenteeism (Grech, 2002). This figure represents only the human action of students who were absent from school without a valid reason on more than three occasions in the time frame of a month. It is a known fact that there are a turn of students that systematically plan three days off from school each month, just for the sake that they use their monthly absence allowance and knowing that in this way their parent s would not receive a citation.Surveys show that the overall absence rate between 25th September 2000 to 31st manifest 2001 stood at 10.5 days per pupil (NSO Malta, 2001). This figure reveals an enlarge of 5.2% over 1999/2000 scholastic year (NSO Malta, 2001). Thus it shows that during this period, 657,604 pupil days were lost to absenteeism and authorised absence due to sickness.Indeed, the Clark Report (2005) shows concern for the increase in unauthorised absenteeism with enatic consent, exceptionally in state standby schools which cater, in the main, for a student population coming from a working- class background. Family problems, mental problems, illnesses, school phobia and bullying have, significantly, been call ford by the Clark focus group to be the topmost reasons bring to school avoidance.Some Overseas CountriesMost of the interrogation conducted abroad seems to get out in familyation regarding the temper and extent of truancy in tributary schools. Results of a theatre of operations conducted at a school in London from 1985 to 1987 revealed that 70% of the sampled pupils admitted truanting during the three-year period (Stoll, 199022). In the study that involved nine secondary schools, 66% of the 765 fifth year pupils admitted truanting (ibid). Figures on truancy in 150 side of meat secondary schools revealed that 31% of pupils in years 10 and 11 admitted that they vie truant or skipped lessons (OKeefe Stoll, 199512).Gray and Jesson (199025) report about the major national mess results of truancy in English secondary schools. According to this study, 23% of all fifth year pupils were involved in truant behavior and they were less likely to stay on in full-time education. Furthermore, schools facing serious problems of truancy tend to be in the inner metropolis rather than in other areas (ibid). on the other hand, Collins (199826) reports that absentee rank vary between schools in the London Education Authority.Munn and Johnstone (1 9924) found that out of a sample of 50 Scottish secondary schools, 18% of the pupils (11% in June and 7% in November) were classified as truants and were mostly plaster cast the old years. These figures exclude truants within the school day, as 14 schools reported that they did not keep period attendance records (ibid).Truancy has long been a put down for enquiry in various parts of the USA. According to Nelson (197298), 64% of the 591 students surveyed set themselves as class truants. Learners habitually play truant each day in Los Angeles, Pittsburg and Milwaukee ( contraband, 199633).Bos, Ruiters and Visscher (1992393) found that the average rate of truancy in 36 schools in the four Dutch cities studied was 4.4% and that truancy increased with the train of the class in almost all schools. Some interrogationers win indicate that truancy does not necessarily mean missing the whole day of school but found that I could be in the form of missing a part of a day or particular l esson (Kilpartick, 199831 Reid, 199991).In a study conducted by Malan in south-central Africa (1972144), 2,738 out of 69,908 pupils were identified by their teachers as truants. Masithela (Masithela, 199233) observed that learners tend to miss lessons during the first and second periods, as well as during the last give periods. The tendency of missing certain lessons towards the end of the school day shows that some form of hidden truancy is prevalent and that pupils can be attach present in the register but fail to attend all lessons (ibid45). On the other hand, they may come late and be pronounced absent or be somewhere on the school set forth not attending certain lessons or periods, but still be marked as being present on the class resisters.Factors associated with truancyMaltaTruancy is about learners who have not been attending school regularly as required by the school, parents and even the authorities. Tyerman (1968) defines the term truant as the child who is absent from school purely on his or her own initiative. Gabb (1994) includes in his definition of truant, that a child who is absent with leave given by his or her parents, or who are actually kept at inhabitancy by the parents. Hersov (cited in Gabb, 1994) goes still further, dividing from truants, school phobics and school refusers. major power (2001) furthermore defines school refusal/school phobics as a difficulty to attend school due to emotional distress, especially anxiety and depression.Fenech (1991) (in an unpublished look) defines absenteeism as being absent from lessons for any period of time and for reasons not considered as certain, with or without the parents knowledge (p.3). She goes on to include physical presence without any attention being given to a lesson in progress as well as masked or selective truancy (ibid., p.3). Fenech (ad. lib.) refers to the latter as skiving off specific lessons or dis seeance after registration (p.3) remarking that a number of sources consi der absenteeism and truancy synonymous.Sultana (1997), like Fenech (1991), defines absenteeism as staying away from school for reasons not justified by the law (p. 355). However, she goes on to include other less overt ways (ibid., p 355) such as what Willis (1977) calls participating in informal mobility (ibid., p. 355). This includes not entering the class for lesson, intentionally staying in another class, leaving the class without permission, or staying in class without bothering to come with the lesson.Studies conducted abroadWhen seen from a psychological viewpoint, truancy may be symptomatic of learns who are insecure and have low academic achievement aims and low conceit. Lewis (199537) states that attendance difficulties my broadly result from a combination of pull and kick upstairs factors. Pull factors are personal and social aspects that pull a learner out of school. The pull factors may be related to the psychological indices mentioned by Reid (200211), such as mal adjustment, a lower general level of self-esteem and academic self concept, anxiety and lower career aspirations.Factors that push learners away from school include academic and classroom aspects such as inapproachability of the principle staff, incomprehensible teaching style and in abstract classroom succeedment. Other factors relating to the school and the classroom include bullying, the curriculum, boring lessons (Reid, 199991), teachers humiliating remarks (Porteus, Clacherty, Mdiya, Pelo, Matsai, Qwabe and Donald 200011), pitiful record-keeping and school brass section (Bimler Kirkland, 200190 Coldman, 199529).According to Pappas (19961), truancy is often symptomatic of family dysfunction, since the parents of truants tend to be permissive, undisciplined and unavailable. Some authors believe that truancy is associated with a poor socio-economic background, including poverty, poor housing and unemployment (Bell, Rosen and Dynlacht, 1994204 Tyerman, 1958222). Some exploree rs state that there is a link between truancy and delinquent behavior (Collins, 199838 Brown, 1998298-299 Reid, 199925).Truancy differentiated from school phobiaThere is a need to distinguish between truancy and school phobia. The concept school phobia finds a learner who is disinclined to attend school and stays at home with the knowledge of parents (Wicks and Nelson, 2000123). A learners problem often stats with a vague complaint or hesitance to attend school and progresses to total refusal to go to school. Blagg (1992121) asserts that school phobia may be bring on by vexation-arousing aspects of school, such as fear of bereavement caused by anxiety about meeting the standards. Fear may also be related to worries about the health and welfare of parents (Blagg, 1992123). In the other hand, a learner who plays truant misses the whole school day or lessons without the knowledge of parents or caregivers. Furthermore, a truant tends to be involved in various forms of anti social behavior (Blagg, 1992121).Milner and Blyth (199918) acknowledge the difficulties involved in studying the prevalence and pattern of truancy and in comparing incumbent and past school attendance or absence. The difficulties are partly compound by the variations in the definition of truancy itself (Boyd, 199922 Gabb, 19972) and the multifaceted genius of truancy (Edward and Malcolm, 20011 Reid, 199917).The problems associated with studies on truancy should, however, not prevent further research from being conducted. Solutions should be found, or the cause at to the lowest degree eliminated, because truancy is regarded as a serious problem with socio-economic implications. A forward polish up of the books reveals that truancy is a major problem form schools and society and a most powerful predictor of juvenile delinquent behavior (Van Petegem, 1994272 Wiehe, 2000).Reid (20022) maintains that the amount of money spent on truancy simplification initiatives proves the extent of tr uancy.Statement of the problemData on the extent and genius of truancy in schools are often based on culture obtained from class registers. This learning may be inadequate or almost incomplete and limits the understanding of the phenomenon, thus making it difficult to develop appropriate interference strategies. More insight on how truancy manifests is needed to digest a base on which to suggest, plan and develop effective intervention strategies. Therefore, further research is needed to enable education officials, schools, parents and other professionals to manage learners with attendance difficulties more efficiently. This study serves to bridge the information gap regarding the nature of truancy and to provide a picture of the life world of truants in indirect Schools.Aims of the ResearchThe General AimThe choose would be to describe truancy in general as stated in the literature and to conduct an empirical study in methodicalness to determine how truancy behaviour manife sts in secondary schools and what the life world of truants looks likes. The findings can so be used to inform and guide future practice.The Specific aimThe aim of the study would be to gather information that leave alone be used to guide the school (college) community namely the SMT, form teachers, field teachers, guidance teachers and school councillors, youth workers in school and other stakeholders to assistant in the interventional approaches and procedures that can be used for reducing truancy.In order to realise the above aims, the following questions are set to direct the researchWhat is the extent and degree of truancy in terms of the frequency and number of learns involved?What are the patterns, type or nature of truancy?Where do truants go when not at school or in class?What measures are used to monitor and manage truancy?Research method actingThe study will comprise two methods, namely, a literature study and an empirical probe. A study of the literature will deri ve information on studies about poor school attendance and procedures employed to mange or reduce truancy from books, research articles, journals and other resources.A quantitative research design will be used in the empirical investigation. This investigation aims to gather data by means of a questionnaire that will be given to learns in Form 1 and Form 2 in eight randomly selected schools, , incorporating two Junior Lyceums, two Area Secondary and two Church schools.A qualitative research design will be used with guidance teachers, counselors, youth workers, form teachers, Assistant toss of Schools and Heads of School currently working in schools. A focus group and interviews with Heads will help me to investigate what the School community is doing to combat truancy. such(prenominal) data will be advantageous in that they are the most adequate tool to capture how a person thinks of a particular field of force (Goldsmiths Collage, n.d.). More over since a face to face rapport wi th the interviewee, it is induced to continue questioning the subject in order to confirm the guesswork about his or her beliefs, seeking appraise any underlying meat in the process.Demarcation of researchDue to time constraints, the preset research is confined to then 8 randomly selected secondary schools in Malta. A list of all secondary schools was compiled to allow for the random selection of 8 schools, which will form part of this study. This sample was mainl cohosen on the basis of exist implicaitons and accessibility.Explanation of conceptsIn this section a number of concepts that are applicable to this research are delimitate.TruancyReids (19991) asserts that the term truancy is often utilize and can be applied both generically and with a local meaning. In the different parts of Great Britain, truancy is known as dodging, skipping off, mitching, skiving, bunking off and going missing, respectively. Whitney (199449) defines truancy as absence that has not been permit b y the school and where leave has not been given or approved. some other definition provided by Collins (19982), who states that truancy is about pupils who have been registed with a school but identified as not attending school when the law says they should. This definition includes absences from a particular lesson or lessons, known as post-registation truancy (Gabbs, 19945 Stoll, 199023).Clark Report (2005) identify as truancy when a student is voluntarily absent or not attending school without their parents permission and often, awareness (Anglicare, Werribee Family Services 2000). Truancy is defined as untenable or unexplained absence from school with attempts by the student to arrest the absenteeism. Usually the child avoids home when not at school and the parents are often unaware of the childs absence (Rollings, King, Tonge, Luk, Heyne, Ramsdell, Burdett Martin, 1999).The concept blanket truancy refers to absence from the whole school day, which is usually reflected on th e class register, while post-registration truancy occurs when the learner is marked present but fails to turn up at a lesson or lessons (Stoll, 199023).In this research, the term truancy is broadly defined as unauthorized absence from school. The definition is adopted with the assumption that absence with the knowledge and permission of the school and parents or guardians does not constitute truancy. Since the study seeks to explore the type of truancy as manifested at secondary schools, both concepts of truancy (blanket and post-registration) are relevant and will be investigated.A TruantA truant is a child aged 6 17 years old who absents himself or herself form school without a legitimate reason and without permission of his or her parents or the school official (Schaefer and Millman, 1981 335). For the offer of this research, a truant refers to a learner who, after being registered at a school, absents himself or herself from school or lessons without a legitimate reson or perm ission from parents or the school official.The traditional or typical truant Traditional truants tend to be isolated that come from an unsupportive home background, possibly with a tendency to be shy. It is likely that they will have a low self-concept, be introverted and be the citim of their social circumstances.The psychological truant could be the school phobic (school refusal) case but more othen than this psychological truant miss school for psychological related factors such as illness, opsychomatric complaints, laziness, a fear of attending scholl for any reason (such as dislike of a teacher, a lesson, an impending confrontation or fear of bullying.)The Institutional truant Institutional truants are more likely to coddle in on the spur of the moment absences from lessons and to be selective about days or lessons to miss.Secondary SchoolA school that admits or registers and educates learners in Form 1 Form 5 is known as a secondary school.Life WorldIn this research, the ter m life world refers to the psychological context this is make up of elements such as interpersonal aspects, the family, school and the broader community. According to this definition, the life world involves the personal and foreign world of the learner. The personal word refers to intrinsic factors. The external word is made up of the broader educational systems, the home environment and the community where the child spends his time when not at school. Relevant intervention strategies would be easier to suggest if the contextual issues related to the phenomenon under investigations are understood.Research ProgramThe research comprises give chapters, as followsCHAPTER 1In this chapter, the background information in the sincerity and implication of truancy are discussed. The chapter also includes an analysis of the problem, the problem statement, aims of the study, verbal description of the research method and definition of the concepts.CHAPTER 2Chapter 2 entails a redirect examin ation of the literature on types of truancy and the causes of truancy or contributing factors in different countries, including in Malta. Different approaches that the various countries and schools use to manage truancy will also be discussed.CHAPTER 3This chapter deals with research designs and methods. A banter of the research problem, the aim of the empirical investigation, the research tool used in the study and the selection of the sample will be included. Details of the digest and administration of questionnaires as well as an analysis of data will be presented.CHAPTER 4In this chapter, the results of questionnaires will be presented. The results will be analyzed to find answers to the research questions.CHAPTER 5The chapter entails a summary of the research finding, conclusions and recommendations. A summary of the results from the literature study and the limitation of the study will be included.ConclusionThis chapter focuses on the background and analysis of the problem, a s well as the aims of the study. An attempt will be made to explain the research method used, relevant concepts and planned programmes of the research.The next chapter will contain the review of the literature on the types of truancy, factors contributing to truancy behavior, the rate and extent of truancy and the strategies used to manage truancy.CHAPTER 2 TYPES OF TRUANCY, CAUSAL FACTORS AND APPROACHES USED IN THE oversight AND REDUCTION OF TRUANCYIntroductionAccording to Tyerman (1958217), truancy has been a problem to all concerned with education since 1870s. Approximately 750 children were charged for truancy in England and Wales in 1954 (ibid 220). This figure could have been an underestimation as it was based on learners who were referred to courts, and therefore represented mainly incorrigible truants (ibid). Furthermore, the figure gives a general picture of truanting children in one country only and without an indication whether it was absence from certain lessons or whol e school day absence. Truancy is currently a problem in communities. In Clarks report concern was convey about truancy among school children. Data presented in this report indicates that non-attendance exists, and has go an issue of change magnitude concern for schools, educational and student welfare organizations. Non-attendances viewed as being among one of the key problems facing some schools. There is increasing concern for the seemingly large number of children and young people, who are, for a affirm of reasons, missing out on the benefits of education and possibly on a better future (Dr. L. Galea, The Times 9th February, 2005). Non-attendance can be the beginning of unconditioned problems for students who regularly miss out on school (Heyne, King, Tonge, Rollings, Pritchard Young,1999).The extent and nature of truancy are best understood in terms of whether it implies absence for the whole day or during a particular lesson. This chapter deals with how blanket and post-r egistration truancy manifest, the causal factors and various measures of reducing truancy in secondary schools. cover song TruancyPerspectives in various countriesEngland and WalesNormab (200149) states that 50,000 children play truant on a normal school day in England. The number of truants increases steadily with age and most truants are found at secondary school (ibid). This confirms past research findings about the organism of truancy in secondary school in some parts of England. Gray and Jesson (199025) gathered information on the incidence of truancy from the youth cohort survey of England and Wales. The result of their survey shows that 6% of final-year secondary school learners reported to have played truant for several days or workweeks at a time. Malcolm, Wilson, Davidson and Kirk (200350) state as follows In 1999, the Audit Commission noted that at least 40,000 of the 400,000 learners absent from school are truanting.ScotlandIn a study done at 50 Scottish secondary schoo ls, it was found that 30% to 33% of learners had been acting truant at least once in the survey week (Munn and Johnston, 199238). These schools were requested to provide both the overall attendance rate and the meter of learners (ibid).AustraliaHaddon (1996110), citing a comprehensive study conducted in Victorian secondary schools in Australia, states that 40% to 60% of learners of compulsory school age reported that they engaged in truancy. Cohen and Ryan (199812) state that about 10,000 learners in Tasmania play truant at least one day a week.The NetherlandsThe research done at 36 schools in four Dutch cities indicates that the average level of truancy at all schools was 4.4% (Bos, Ruiters and Visscher, 1992393). The average contribution of allowed absence was 4.7%, therefore suggesting that learners in most schools are just as often absent with a valid reason as without one.United States of AmericaIt appears that truancy is a problem in American schools, although at varying le vels. According to Black (199633), approximately 2,500 and 4,000 learners play truant on a daily basis in Pittsburg and Mulwaukee, repectively, while 300,000 of the 1.6 million students in Los Angeles are habitual truants. This shows that some learners stay absent without permission every day and that a day never goes by with a recording of 100% attendance. Truancy is so much of a concern that the Department of Education has prepared a manual that gives schools some guidelines on how to reduce it (United States Department of Education, 1996).MaltaFrom January 2001 up to December 2002 there were 8,903 arraignments before local tribunals in connection with school absenteeism (Grech, 2002). This figure represents only the number of students who were absent from school without a valid reason on more than three occasions in the space of a month. It is a known fact that there are a number of pupils that systematically take three days off from school each month just for the sake that they use up their monthly absence allowance and knowing that in this way their parents would not receive a citation. Survey results issued by the National Statistics Office Malta on December 16, 2002 showed that overall absence rate from schools between September 25, 2000 and March 31, 20001, stood at 10.5 days per pupil. That included both absenteeism and authorized absence (such as those due to sickness). During this period, 657,604 pupil days were list to absenteeism, accounting for 8.9 per cent of the total pupil days. This reveals an increase of 5.2 per cent over the 1999/2000 scholastic year. Absences in government schools stood at 19.12 days per pupil whereas that of government dependent (church schools) and independent private schools was 5.76 days per pupil.The rate of truancy in terms of genderSome of the overseas researchers state that there is no difference in the levels of truancy reported for males and females (Gray and Jesson, 199026 Haddon, 1996 110 Smith, M., 1996226 Sto ll, 199436 Whitney, 1994 59). Recent research on truancy in the seven local education authorities reports that the numbers of learners in secondary school admitting truancy was almost equal for boys and girls (Malcolm et al., 200331). Coldman (199568) also states that the variation that exists in truancy levels of males and females is slight. It is, therefore, unmistakable that some research are in placement with regard to the truancy levels of male and females learners.Earlier research that was conducted in southern Africa suggests that more males than females tend to play truantColdman (199568) warns against making assumptions and generalisations about the existence of gender differnce in truancy levels. He argues that observed findings might result from the fact that some schools have more males than females, particularly when one is relations with a large sample.What the above studies suggest about truancy levels of males and females is that the difference might be slight, i f it does exist. Furthermore, observed diffrenences may be incfluenced by other variables, such as the enrolled number of male and female learners in a sample.Truancy rate according to the geographical location of the school sincere truancy is said to be more prevalent in inner-city secondary schools in England (Gray and Jesson, 199036 Stoll, 199023). Munn and Johnstone (19924) also found that the Scottish school with the highest percentage of unauthorized absence was all in the inner city.Coldman (199569) asserts that claims that truancy is a problem mainly dwelld in inner city schools are disputable, since another survey showed that the truancy level is high even in the suburban, rural and industrial areas of England. It may therefore be purely speculation, without much supporting evidence, to suggest that inner-city school experience higher levels of truancy. Hard evidence needs to be gathered, where possible, in order to verify the claim that inner-city experience higher rates of truancy.According to some researchers, truancy levels also appear to differ from school to school, since they may be more prevalent in schools than in others (Blackm 199633 Bos et al., 1992385 Gray and Jesson, 199026 OKeefe and Stoll, 199512). It is therefore apparent that the levels of truancy seem to vary from country to country, and in some cases, also in terms of geographical locations within a city or town.The literature indicates that blanket truancy is common in many secondary school and that, in some cases, learners play truant on a daily basis. The levels of blanket truancy can also vary according to regional locations within the same country. In the next section, the evidence regarding the level of post-registration truancy drawn from the literature will be discussed.Post-registration Truancyin truth little information is given in the literature about national trends of post-registration truancy in countries where research on truancy was conducted. Most of the studies conducted in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United St