Introduction One of the important requirements of passing a subject or a course is to attend classes regularly. Unattendance, therefore, would probably affect the academic performance of students as it is regarded as an important component of a student’s scholastic record. Aside from that, missing school days could also affect students’ social competence as being absent from class lessens a student’s interaction with his peers and his teacher as well.
Absenteeism is considered as a major culprit in the education system. It deteriorates both the teaching and learning process. Also, it is a threat for both teachers, particularly those handling advisory classes, and to students who constantly miss school for particular reasons. Absenteeism tends to become more of a social issue. Aside from the fact that students who skip school every now and then may miss a lot of their lessons, they will probably have poor academic performance. The social competence of students who gradually miss school may also be affected. They will tend to feel inferior with those who attend school regularly and soon result to dropping-out (Suhid, Raman & Kamal, 2011). As a social issue, the environment in which a student interacts with has something to do with what and how he acts. Therefore, those who absent from school constantly would resort to petty crimes and vices just to make-up for their spare time. Sooner or later, they will comprise a big part of the population if it would not be addressed at once. Truancy, another term for absenteeism is also a problem in other countries. According to Suhid et. al (2011), it has been reported that truancy nearly tops the list of acts of misbehavior among students in Malaysia. Indeed, Circular 6/1995 of the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Malaysia stated explicitly that truancy was, and still is, a behavior that violates rules. Based on the