Why students at vocational programs are absent from English classes

Abstract: AbstractStudents that are absent are one of the major problems that the school system and teachers have to tackle today. This study sets out to investigate why some behind students from vocational programs at two upper secondary schools are absent from English. Furthermore the aim of the study is to investigate what would motivate students to attend more frequently. Five students that attend vocational programs and have or had high degree of absence from English classes were interviewed. The informants described the reasons behind their absence and what would motivate them to attend more often. In addition 60 students answered a questionnaire concerning their absence and attendance.According to the students the reasons behind truancy were unskilled teachers, noisy classrooms, non-supportive teachers and unstructured lessons. Students also said why they play truant is that they are academically behind and can not meet the objectives. Majority of students who were interviewed admitted that they would meet the objectives if they would study more.Key words: absence, attendance, truancy, vocational programs