Resumen de Inter-class peer mentoring, truancy reduction and academic engagement in rural Nigeria schools: a pilot study

Kingsley Chinaza Nwosu, Mary Nneka Nwikpo, Ugochukwu Victor Ezeonwumelu, Okafor Chioma, Alaribe Christopher Obinna, Adaora Orakpor, Anthony Obinna Ezennaka

• Problematic school attendance behaviours are associated with far-reaching implications on the academic success of adolescent students, particularly those in rural areas. Our pilot study examined the effects of peer mentoring on school attendance and academic engagement among rural adolescents with truant behaviours in Anambra State. Using a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest control group design, 32 rural adolescents (5 mentors, 12 mentees, and 15 students in control group) participated in the programme over one school term. Our findings revealed a significant main effect of the intervention programme on students’ attendance mean scores whereas, non-significant main effect was found on their academic engagement mean scores. Furthermore, neither significant main effects of the socio-demographic variables on their attendance and academic engagement, nor significant interaction effects between the socio-demographic variables and the method (intervention programme) were found. We concluded that while peer mentoring programme may enhance attendance, it may not significantly improve the academic engagement among rural students with truant behaviours.