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Data from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights shows that 29 per cent of teachers were considered chronically absent, missing more than 10 days of school in 2015-2016. This is near twice the 15 per cent of students who are chronically absent. As a result, a number of school districts included teacher and student absence measures in their school accountability system.

In a bid to reduce absenteeism among both teachers and students, Mengo Senior school introduced a biometric system designed to monitor the movements of students and staff in and out of the school.

eNews Channel Africa reports that a recent document made by the school monitoring survey shows the national absenteeism aggregate for teachers in South African schools has risen from eight percent to ten percent on an average day. Teacher unions are discussing the lack of context of the report.

In the most remote regions of Pakistan, the education of young children is problematic. Due to a lack of resources, many schools have been abandoned and teachers, inadequately paid by a failing government, are not coming to teach. Thousands, if not millions, of children are deprived of an education and left to fend for themselves.

The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) recently pointed out that teacher absenteeism was one of the reasons for high failure rates in the Primary Leaving Examinations. However further researches have confirmed that the least paid teacher are not the ones who absent themselves the most. In fact are the high paid teachers the ones that spend the school time in the market places.

New teachers often face a many-month delay before they receive their salaries. Teachers sometimes supplement their income with a second job. This can affect their own attendance at school, and can put pressure on the amount of time they have to prepare their lessons. A 2007 report by the Cambodian NGO Education Partnership (NEP) reveals education costs for each child averaged $108 annually, or 9 percent of each family's annual income. "When you include informal and formal school costs, and private classes and snacks, many students are paying $2.50 every day," the education and capacity-building officer for the NGO Education Partnership (NEP), told IRIN. The inability to pay informal fees was the most common reason parents gave for their children dropping out, the report stated.