Interestingly, even in developing countries or traditional societies,
there has been a growing awareness that time-lost related to absenteeism or tardy-ism is
detrimental to the total human development (which most of us our seeking in
2012). Dr. Rahma Al-Mahroqi, who is a professor in the English department at
Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in Muscat
notes, "Students always have the same
justification for their absenteeism. I
think absenteeism could be a symptom for more serious problems, so it has to be
dealt with. Those students who regularly are absent are wasting not only their
time, but they also waste the money that the university spends for them."
Dr. Al-Mahroqi adds that the university administration and
her department might share in the blame for continuing some instances of the
lack of attendance in some classes. She
says, "If it [lack of attendance] is done of our carelessness, it is a sign of
disrespect for the teacher and for learning. . . .. Teachers can reduce the
rate of absence in their classes simply by applying the clear SQU policies
regarding absenteeism and students should be familiar with these rules. Teachers must design their classes with fun
and enjoyment, so students would be motivated to attend these classes."
However, many students at Sultan Qaboos
University (and other
Omani universities and schools) need more support and stricter application of
good attendance rules from staff and administrators, i.e. students and
administrators should not just simply demanding more-interesting classes. For
example, one student in the college of education, Salim Al-Shuraiqi, claims,
"The high rate of absence among students happens because the policy of attending classes is not strongly emphasized
and sometimes doctors do not follow it. Being sick or having accidents are
the main causes for students to not attend their classes. The students will exploit their doctors if
they do not deal with this issue strictly and they will keep missing classes. Students
should be aware that being absent will affect them negatively."
Affecting them "Negatively" could mean the dropping of a
student from a course--immediately after a few absences. Currently, the number
of absences permitted in many Omani universities for students is well over 25%
of all classes. No wonder attendance is not taken seriously! This contrasts with where I attended in the USA--where
absenteeism of over 2, 3, or 5 percent of all classes was just not permitted.
Moreover--I should note--, I had attended a small university in
the USA
and it was not uncommon for a student to regularly run into one's instructor on
a regular basis outside the classroom or outside his or her office hours. So,
the teacher and student had a lot more opportunity through regular contact to
build rapport and respect. This building
of rapport and respect is what students, themselves, are eliminating as a
possibility in their academic and university careers when they maintain approximately 25% or more absences in a term--simply
because the current administrative system at a particular university (or their family obligations)
encourages them to do so.
Importantly, I should note that family obligations, such as "having
to drive a sister to a hair salon or out shopping", is currently enough in many
Gulf State Arab societies fro administrators to forgive a student for missing
several afternoon classes in a row. This reflects societal preferences of
putting the family ahead of all-things or most-things educational.
One other student at Sultan Qaboos
University, Mana Al-Aufi
explains, " Students usually miss classes because there will be an exam after
the missing class. I think that the
acceptable excuses behind being absent are mainly medical or social ones [from
the administration's perspective]. I
consider students' attendance as an issue which is primarily controlled
[though] by the student's attitude For SQU students, I think missing classes
will be a time and money consumed, especially if lectures and resources were
already prepared for students to attend and very little students actually
attend the classes."
Quite obviously, absences at work and at schools are not
taken seriously because neither a carrot or stick is being used by society and
administrators to maintain serious levels of attendance. This leads students and families to continue
with a social attitude and set of behaviors that are disrespectful to the work
place and the teachers who are seeking to build rapport or seeking to
development motivating and interesting lessons.
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