M.Ed. / The problem of truancy is causing a great deal of concern for the communities, for the state, for the family and for the school. The number of students who deliberately stay away from school on certain occasions is on the increase. The fact that absenteeism and truancy have become significant predictors of problem behaviour, troublesomeness and sometimes delinquency in secondary schools, makes it even more vital that the problem of truancy needs to be addressed with the urgency that it deserves. Up to now, very little is known about the contribution made by the curriculum content towards truancy. The structure of the curriculum, methods of instruction, the timetable, examination pressures and extramural activities are some of the possible causes of truancy. School rules, teacher attitude and teacher expectations are also among some of the contributing factors to absenteeism. The purpose of this research, therefore, is to attempt to find out if the curriculum content plays any part in curbing the problem of truancy, and to ascertain if there is a possible contribution of the curriculum content towards truancy. It is also one of the fundamental aims of this survey to learn more about the value orientations of children who do not attend school regularly and to establish curriculum changes that might be needed to alleviate the problem of truancy. In order to investigate the possible contributions made by the curriculum content, and the perceptions of black truants of their schooling, a two-part methodology was devised. In the first place, a questionnaire was formulated and a pilot study was conducted at a school that was not part of the target group. A survey was subsequently carried out at three Mamelodi high schools. The data from the questionnaire were analysed using the first and second order factor analyses, and even a discriminate analysis was applied on the data. The following format has been used in the presentation of the results. First, the findings from the literature study are discussed, and then results obtained from the empirical study are also outlined. From the literature study it was found that the content of the curriculum does not satisfy the needs of the individual student and can therefore lead to truancy. The schools' system such as school rules, timetables, language and methods of instruction sometimes demotivate students from attending school regularly. Teachers and family members also play a role in discouraging students from seeing any value in attending school. The following statistically significant differences were found after the analysis of the respondents' estimates of the applicability of the statements in the literature study as reflected in the questionnaire. If students had a choice, more truants than non-truants would stay away from school. More truants find school and school activities less interesting and most do not know what they want to do with their lives after completing school. More truants than nontruants find school irrelevant and school subjects less important and of less value to their future aspirations. It is against this background that one can conclude that indeed the school curriculum content does not help much in curbing the problem of truancy.

Child labor is still a relevant problem in developing countries and understanding the way that households respond in terms of children\'s time allocation to labor market incentives has relevant policy implications. In this paper, I explore a plausibly exogenous trade-induced labor market shock to assess how changes in returns to work affect children\'s time allocation in Brazil. To provide a good proxy for distinctly exogenous changes to the returns to adult labor as well as returns to the child labor I propose a strategy that distinguish between employment shocks that differentially affect adults and children. The results suggest an asymmetric impact on household decisions about children\'s time allocation that depend upon the source of the shock. First, larger import competition shocks concentrated on adult workers decrease the share of children that attend school, while an adverse shock concentrated on child workers has a positive effect on schooling, but the estimates are not statistically significant. On the other hand, both shocks decrease the share of working children. However, shocks on adults increase idleness, while shocks on children increase full-time schooling. I provide evidence that poverty and employment composition pattern are two possible mechanisms behind the results. I also find that adverse shocks on children have positive effects on math scores in a standardized national exam (Saeb) and stronger effects for children living in rural areas. / Trabalho infantil ainda é um problema relevante nos países em desenvolvimento e entender o modo como as famílias respondem a incentivos no mercado de trabalho decidindo como alocar o tempo das crianças tem importantes implicações em termos de política. Neste trabalho, eu exploro um choque plausivelmente exógeno sobre o mercado de trabalho causado pelo comércio internacional para avaliar como mudanças no retorno do trabalho afetam a alocação de tempo das crianças no Brasil. Para medir mudanças exógenas sobre os retornos do trabalho adulto e infantil, eu proponho uma estratégia que distingue entre choques no emprego que afetam diferentemente adultos e crianças. Os resultados sugerem um efeito assimétrico sobre as decisões das famílias com relação à alocação de tempo das crianças a depender da fonte do choque. Primeiramente, choques de importação sobre os trabalhadores adultos diminuem a proporção de crianças na escola, enquanto choques adversos sobre as crianças que trabalham têm um efeito positivo sobre a escolaridade, mas as estimativas não são estatisticamente significantes. Por outro lado, ambos os choques diminuem a proporção de crianças trabalhando. Entretanto, choques sobre os adultos aumentam a ociosidade, enquanto choques sobre as crianças aumentam a dedicação exclusiva aos estudos. Eu forneço evidências de que a pobreza e a composição do emprego são dois possíveis mecanismos por trás dos resultados. Eu encontro ainda que choques adversos nas crianças possuem efeitos positivos sobre a proficiência em matemática no exame nacional de avaliação do ensino básico (Saeb) e que os efeitos são mais fortes em crianças que moram nas áreas rurais

Child labor is still a relevant problem in developing countries and understanding the way that households respond in terms of children\'s time allocation to labor market incentives has relevant policy implications. In this paper, I explore a plausibly exogenous trade-induced labor market shock to assess how changes in returns to work affect children\'s time allocation in Brazil. To provide a good proxy for distinctly exogenous changes to the returns to adult labor as well as returns to the child labor I propose a strategy that distinguish between employment shocks that differentially affect adults and children. The results suggest an asymmetric impact on household decisions about children\'s time allocation that depend upon the source of the shock. First, larger import competition shocks concentrated on adult workers decrease the share of children that attend school, while an adverse shock concentrated on child workers has a positive effect on schooling, but the estimates are not statistically significant. On the other hand, both shocks decrease the share of working children. However, shocks on adults increase idleness, while shocks on children increase full-time schooling. I provide evidence that poverty and employment composition pattern are two possible mechanisms behind the results. I also find that adverse shocks on children have positive effects on math scores in a standardized national exam (Saeb) and stronger effects for children living in rural areas. / Trabalho infantil ainda é um problema relevante nos países em desenvolvimento e entender o modo como as famílias respondem a incentivos no mercado de trabalho decidindo como alocar o tempo das crianças tem importantes implicações em termos de política. Neste trabalho, eu exploro um choque plausivelmente exógeno sobre o mercado de trabalho causado pelo comércio internacional para avaliar como mudanças no retorno do trabalho afetam a alocação de tempo das crianças no Brasil. Para medir mudanças exógenas sobre os retornos do trabalho adulto e infantil, eu proponho uma estratégia que distingue entre choques no emprego que afetam diferentemente adultos e crianças. Os resultados sugerem um efeito assimétrico sobre as decisões das famílias com relação à alocação de tempo das crianças a depender da fonte do choque. Primeiramente, choques de importação sobre os trabalhadores adultos diminuem a proporção de crianças na escola, enquanto choques adversos sobre as crianças que trabalham têm um efeito positivo sobre a escolaridade, mas as estimativas não são estatisticamente significantes. Por outro lado, ambos os choques diminuem a proporção de crianças trabalhando. Entretanto, choques sobre os adultos aumentam a ociosidade, enquanto choques sobre as crianças aumentam a dedicação exclusiva aos estudos. Eu forneço evidências de que a pobreza e a composição do emprego são dois possíveis mecanismos por trás dos resultados. Eu encontro ainda que choques adversos nas crianças possuem efeitos positivos sobre a proficiência em matemática no exame nacional de avaliação do ensino básico (Saeb) e que os efeitos são mais fortes em crianças que moram nas áreas rurais

This is an exploratory study that tries to isolate those factors that specifically relate to the poor attendance levels of Aboriginal primary age children. The study took place in the North-West Region of the NSW Department of Education. It was conducted by a member of the Home/School Liaison Team which had been set up to address the problem of non-attendance in NSW schools. After considering both overseas and Australian studies relating to non-attendance at school individual, family and school-based factors were looked at. One school was targeted as a case study and students from other schools in the North-West Region were randomly chosen to participate to attempt to broaden the results. The student and a care provider were interviewed individually and each student's teacher completed a questionnaire and student profile sheet. Where possible, interviewing was performed by an Aboriginal person to allow the interviewee to feel more comfortable. To get further details of school-based factors, all Public Schools in the North-West Region with Aboriginal enrolments were sent questionnaires to be filled in by a staff member in a promotions position and classroom teachers within that school. The major finding of the study was the significance of the previous attendance history of the student, thus indicating the necessity for early intervention if prevention of poor attendance patterns is to occur. The targeting of the beginning years of schooling and the introduction of parent education programs about the importance of these early years are recommended. Other areas found in this study to be related significantly to poor attendance were a competitive class climate, the socio-economic background of parents, parent employment history, parent educational background, single parent families, overcrowding and peer group influences. The study confirmed what many researchers had found: that school absenteeism is a problem with many contributory factors and each student needs to be looked at individually. Each case needs to be dealt with on its own merits.

Faculty of Education. Bibliography: leaves 142-155.

<p>The number of children with disabilities under the age of 18 years around the world varies from 120 to 150 million. In many countries, throughout the world, the majority of children with disabilities either do not receive any form of education or, if they receive any, it is often inappropriate. UNESCO estimates that more than 90% of children with disabilities in developing countries do not attend schools. Rwanda has recently started inclusive education in a number of schools around the country for ensuring that children with disabilities have access to education. Despite this, in Rwanda, many children with disabilities do not attend school and this number is not known. This study aimed to identify the barriers to school attendance by children with disabilities in Rwanda.</p>

Education is a long-term effort. The children and teenagers are the pillar-to-be in our nation. Moreover, the popularization of national education can contribute to the enhancement of national competitiveness. Thus, the Article 21 of the Constitution of Taiwan regulates that the people shall have the right and duty to receive national education, which means anyone shall have the right to receive national education and the duty to receive national education as long as he or she is a citizen of Taiwan. Furthermore, to practice education drastically, the nation promulgates the Compulsory School Attendance Act. It allows local governments to establish ¡§committee of compulsory school attendance¡¨ to manage the dropouts from elementary and junior high schools, targeting ¡§zero dropout.¡¨ However, the good faith of the regulations can not be implemented well for every citizen in terms of ¡§the right and duty to receive education,¡¨ especially for the students who drop out of school. It is affected by complicated factors, such as personal value, society, economy, peers, indigenous people and new immigrants. Dropping out has concerned the field of education the most, and it has also brought related problems to the society and public order. Therefore, it is necessary to research and to discuss how to organize an effective legal system of dropout counseling management. Based on the 5 major frameworks of administration law, including administrative principles, administrative organization, administrative authority, administrative remedy and administrative supervision, this study aims at examining the legal system of junior high dropout counseling management to redress the deficiency of current law with researching by reference, historical analysis, comparative analysis and induction analysis in different aspects. Meanwhile, by learning from advanced countries, such as the U.S., Japan and Korea, some specific manners and suggestions, such as establishing dedicated organizations or offices, paying attention to secondary education and reinforcing the function of halfway schools, are expected to be provided for the government, schools, private organizations and future researchers. Through the above-mentioned manners, the situation of dropouts can be redressed and corrected. Moreover, the spirit of the Constitution, namely, the right and duty to receive national education for all citizens, can be fulfilled.

Despite a multi-disciplinary, international literature, little research has drawn attention to the phenomenon of school refusal within the school. Most research on school refusal follows a positivist paradigm, focusing on the student, instead of examining the role of schools. Using a qualitative design and a social constructionist framework, this study explored how school personnel perceive school refusal, focusing on the social interactions, processes, and perceptions that construct their understanding. The study was conducted in a large school district in the Southeastern United States.Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with school personnel at the middle school (N=42), high school (N=40), and district level (N=10). Interviews at the school level included assistant principals, school psychologists, social workers, health services staff, guidance counselors, teachers, attendance office staff, and school resource officers. The district level interviews included personnel in departments related to guidance, psychology, school health services, and social work. Observational data was collected within the schools selected for interviews (N=10). Thirty-eight out of 68 middle and high school principals in the school district completed the Survey of School Refusal.Findings suggest that school personnel rarely use the terminology set forth by the professional literature to describe the spectrum of school refusal. Further, analysis revealed that personnel delineate students who refuse school according to their own categorizations formed through day-to-day experiences with students. Personnel's constructions of school refusal differed based on legitimacy of the reason for refusal, motivation for refusal, grade level, and barriers, which were physical, mental, emotional, social, and societal in nature. Overarching dynamics of typifications of students included parental control, parental awareness, student locus of control, blame, and victim status. These typifications influence how personnel react to students they encounter, particularly in deciding who needs help versus punishment presenting very real implications for students.The findings from this exploratory qualitative study make a significant contribution to this literature. The findings support the use of social constructionism in understanding school personnel's construction of school refusal. Implications for education, public health, and school health practice are presented and include recommendations for policy, training, prevention, early intervention, and future research.

In the first essay, I assess the effect of indoor air quality (IAQ) in school buildings on student test performance and attendance rates. Results indicate that performance on standardized tests significantly improves while attendance rates are unresponsive to improvements in IAQ. The improvement in math scores ranges from 0.102 - 0.189 standard deviations per $500,000 spent on IAQ-related renovations and is 35% - 50% greater than the improvement in reading scores. For the same budget, results suggest that the improvement in math scores following IAQ-related renovations is several times larger than the improvement associated with class size reductions. In the second essay, I examine the responsiveness of the daily labor supply of fishermen to transitory variations in the daily wage using data from the Florida spiny lobster fishery. The applicability of this research is both narrow and general. Understanding this relationship is key to determining the effectiveness of landing fees as a means to regulate fisheries. Tracing out the labor supply curve is also fundamental to labor economics and policy. I find that the wage elasticity of labor supply (participation) is positive and statistically different from zero, with a point estimate of 0.967. This suggests an upward slopping labor supply curve and refutes the notion of reference dependent preferences. In the third essay, I examine the bias associated with ignoring the multi-species aspect of labor supply decisions in spatially explicit bioeconomic fishery models. Using a complete 15-year panel of all fishing trips made by fishermen possessing a Florida spiny lobster license, including non-lobster trips, I show that the simplifying assumption of a dichotomous choice structure at the first node (i.e. participate in the target fishery or not) is not innocuous and that predicted participation rates can change substantially with the addition of another species as an outside alternative in the first decision node. / text

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