Students' attendance and absenteeism

Introduction

There is an ongoing debate among tertiary students of whether student absenteeism contributes chiefly to academic performance or not. Different arguments emerge regarding this issue. This essay will consider arguments that oppose the topic and those that agree that student absenteeism hinders academic performance. It will come with solutions to curb this bad and unrewarding behavior.

Absenteeism as Negative Factors of Study

Those who say that student absenteeism does not lead to poor academic performance claim that even when a student is absent there are many of accessing information rather than depending on lecture notes. Saulnier stated out that, “ Today information is rarely the limiting factor in a student’s education. Thus modern pedagogy is gradually shifting the professor’s role from sage on the stage to guide on the side”. They therefore believe lecture notes are not the only source of information for a learner. However the lecturer is the one who sets the tests and examinations and therefore the concepts that they teach in class are the ones they will ask in a test or examination. A student who is absent misses a lot of important concepts and examples taught in class which are used to clarify difficult concepts. Moreover valuable information cannot be repeated when the lecturers reteach the lecture to absent students.

Some students may say that class attendance is time consuming and therefore it is better to do assignments or tests online rather than attending classes. They also argue that there are many search engines through which someone can study online such as Google, Firefox, and Google scholar. Barindra claimed that, “ naturally an online class is more convenient as it saves time, money and energy”. However Barindra also stated that classroom learning helps students and teachers know each other in a better manner. In addition to this classroom learning allows the lecture know the students and be able to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses better. This relationship is what is required for an excellent academic performance of a student.

Opponents maintain that student absenteeism is caused by lecturers who are rude, cruel and bitter on students. There are the root cause of student absenteeism and therefore there is no need of attending classes when the lecturers are rude and maltreats students. A report by Sahin, Arseven and Kihc stated out,” that teachers negative and extremely oppressive attitudes towards students came out as an important factor in the student’s attendance in school”. To a certain extent they are right but as a student one has to be present each time even if the lecture is harsh on them because some lecturers award marks and treats students differently looking at their attendance. The more one attends, the lesser they will be badly treated by the lecturer and vice versa. It is therefore important for a person to attend classes to avoid being maltreated by the lecturer.

Conclusions

Student absenteeism is totally bad, unrewarding has no benefit for the students. During classes there are in class activities and exercises that are given to students to answer in order to check their understanding. In most cases there are added to the final examination mark and therefore being absent means minus this marks. Some lecturers also reward marks to students who are actively participating and always present to class as such missing a class is messing with one’s own life.

The evidence presented in this easy has clearly shown that indeed student absenteeism leads to poor academic performance because when a student is absent they miss important concepts which they might need to refer to in an examination. For a student to perform well academically they have to attend classes regularly and actively participate in class. It is therefore important that students understands that class attendance is the key to academic excellence and the gate pass to a bright future.