Absenteeism

Definition
Teacher absenteeism
: is ‘any failure of an employee to report for or to remain at work as scheduled, regardless of reason’ (Casio, cited in Rosenblatt, Z.; Shirom, A. 2006: 371). It is ‘one of the most serious forms of education corruption, because it appears to be pervasive, it has a lasting effect on students, and it constitutes a large burden on the education budget.’ (Kagia and Patrinos, 2007: 69). Various factors contribute to illegitimate teacher absenteeism, including poor working conditions, overcrowded classrooms, inadequate teacher training, insufficient monitoring mechanisms and a lack of disciplinary action against teachers with high absenteeism rates.

Student or school absenteeism: ‘the problem of school absenteeism occurs when some children fail to attend school regularly and their absences affect their academic performance. School absenteeism has typically being associated with students’ refusal to attend school or with truancy (Cooper, 1986)’ (Balcazar and Keys, 2003: 916). 

References
Balcazar, F.E.; Keys, C.B. 2003. ‘School Absenteeism, Childhood’. In: Gullotta T.P. et al. (eds) Encyclopedia of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion. Springer, Boston, MA. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0195-4_133

Casio, 2003, cited in Rosenblatt, Z.; Shirom, A. 2006. ‘School Ethnicity and Governance Influences on Work Absence of Teachers and School Administrators’. In: Educational Administration Quarterly, 42, 3. Retrieved from: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.536.8376&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Kagia, R.; Patrinos, H.A. 2007. ‘Maximizing the performance of education systems: the case of teacher absenteeism’. In: Campos, J. Edgardo; Pradhan, Sanjay (Ed.). The Many Faces of Corruption: Tracking Vulnerabilities at the Sector Level (pp. 63-87). Washington D.C.: The World Bank. Retrieved from: https://etico.iiep.unesco.org/en/resource/maximizing-performance-education-systems-case-teacher-absenteeism

To explore further (Teacher absenteeism)
IIEP-UNESCO; UNICEF; GPE (Global Partnership for Education); UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. 2021. Education Sector Analysis Methodological Guidelines – Volume 3. Retrieved from: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000377738/PDF/377738eng.pdf.multi

Kagia, R.; Patrinos, H.A. 2007. ‘Maximizing the performance of education systems: the case of teacher absenteeism’. In: Campos, J. Edgardo; Pradhan, Sanjay (Ed.). The Many Faces of Corruption: Tracking Vulnerabilities at the Sector Level (pp. 63-87). Washington D.C.: The World Bank. Retrieved from: https://etico.iiep.unesco.org/en/resource/maximizing-performance-education-systems-case-teacher-absenteeism

Patrinos, H.A. 2013. The Hidden Cost of Corruption: Teacher Absenteeism and Loss in Schools. Accessed 23 August 2021: https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/hidden-cost-corruption-teacher-absenteeism-and-loss-schools

To explore further (Student absenteeism)
UNESCO; GPE (Global Partnership for Education). 2020. The role of education management information systems in supporting progress towards SDG 4: recent trends and international experiences. Paris: UNESCO. Retrieved from: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000374542?posInSet=41&queryId=bebd8d3c-f3fa-4a57-9c93-9925036a5145

UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund); UIS-UNESCO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics). 2016. ‘Volume 1: Monitoring Education Participation. Framework for Monitoring Children and Adolescents who are Out of School or at Risk of Dropping Out’. In: UNICEF Series on Education Participation and Dropout Prevention. Geneva: UNICEF Regional Office for Central
and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Retrieved from: http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/monitoring-education-participation.pdf