QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ON TARDINESS OF THE STUDENTS ON FLAG-RAISING CEREMONY

IN SAN PEDRO RELOCATION CENTER NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

By
ALVIN O. INSORIO
1st Semester SY 2016 – 2017
Abstract
Punctuality is virtue that everyone must be practiced everyday especially if there special
event or occcassion to attend. It is a sign of being responsible and giving priority to other
people. It is a matter of valuing time of other people and showing respect to them. However,
most of us forgot its importance.
This study examined the reason of student tardiness in San Pedro Relocation National
High School Langgam Campus flag-raising ceremony which held every Monday. It was observed
the number of late comers for the said activity called the attention of the school administartors.
Qualitaive research was used in this study since data given by the students are in nonnumerical
forms. Self-made form was given to the students to fill out the necessary information such as
names, grade level and section, adviser, address and reason.
It has been observed that the common reason for being tardy is the students woke up
late, difficulty in transporation mode/trafiic experienced every Monday, and doing household
chores in the morning.

Key words: Qualitaive research, Tardiness

INTRODUCTION

Flag-raising ceremony is an activity participated by schools, whether public or private,

government agencies and other types of programs to illustrate patriotism and to show respect
to our motherland. However, studies showed that problems exist in connection to the conduct
of the flag-raising ceremony and other kinds of program that require a large number of
attendees. One of which is tardiness – the failure to practice punctuality. Being punctual marks
a positive outcome if religiously observed by individuals of a particular system or institution
(Paren, 2016). In Kidapawan City, same situation was faced by the teachers in the Junior High
School level. Paren (2016), on his action research, mentioned that aside from the flag-raising
ceremony, students were most often tardy when attending their classes after recess and/or
lunch time and during the first period in the morning and the afternoon session. He determined
the causes of the students’ tardiness – distance between residence and school, sleeping habit,
teacher factor and problems regarding finance.

Our school, the San Pedro Relocation Center National High School (SPRCNHS) Langgam
Campus conducts the flag-raising ceremony once every week, particularly, during Mondays.
Like any other ceremonies, attendance and punctuality are being observed. However, SPRCNHS
is also having difficulties on the latter as similar to the instances described on the recent study.
As the school who delivers the technological and basic secondary education inculcates
discipline to have world class graduates, globally competitive and well-rounded individuals who
possess virtue of punctuality and responsibility.

According to Malik, Ladhani and Bhamani (2005) schools through their curriculum
inculcate the significance of social skills in the learners in order to aid with the required skills to
become responsible beings. The students in the schools are not only assessed for the
demonstration of their intellectual capabilities but also their behavior. However, most schools
experience problems about the tardiness of the students in conducting flag-raising ceremony.

The flag-raising ceremony is conducted every Monday in consonance to the DepEd

Order 50 s. 2015 also known as Observance/Conduct of Flag Raising and Lowering Ceremonies
and Proper Sequence in Official DepEd Programs involving the Singing of the Philippine National
Anthem. The said DepEd order is based on Republic Act (RA) No. 8491, otherwise known as the
Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines. It is observed every Monday at 7:00 o clock in the
morning in the Quadrangle together with the students, faculty, staff and administrators of the
school.

It has been observed that almost 30 % of the students in our school who is always late in
attending flag-raising ceremony every Monday. The observation conducted by the principal, the
school heads and the rest of the faculty members has led to the supposition about the
noticeable behavior of the students during the aforementioned activity – the failure to practice
punctuality. The number of students practices tardiness in attending the activity every Monday
morning evidently increases. This phenomenon called the attention of the school
administrators to investigate the reason why most of the students are unable to attend the said
morning activity. This, then, led the SPRCNHS Research Department to come up with this
research project.

This study aims to identify the reasons behind the SPRCNHS students’ tardiness that
leads to the failure to attend the weekly flag-raising ceremony on time. Moreover, it aims to
suggest intervention to address this problem.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The stuy was conducted within the students of San Pedro Relocation Center National
High School Langgam Campus for three consecutive Mondays from July 25, August 1, and
August 8, 2016. The students from grade 7 to 12 were considered in the study who are coming
late or unable to attend the flag-raising ceremony. Demographic profile such as sex, address,
grade and section, adviser and reason for tardiness are considered in this study. Information
are acquired and provided by the students by writing on piece of paper to determine the cause
of tardiness.

This study covered only the tardiness of the students on flag-raising ceremony
conducted for three consecutive Mondays. It did not included the tardiness on classes and
incidents after said ceremony. Grade level and section including the adviser are taken from the
students to determine which Grade level has the highest and the lowest numbers of late
comers. It does not intend to identify the adviser nor say something about the section.

METHODOLOGY

The qualitative research design was utilized to answer the research inquiry of the study
since the applicability and availability of the qualitative data were considered. To be a
participant of the study, one should be a student from San Pedro Relocation Center National
High School (SPRCNHS) Langgam Campus and has not attended the flag-raising ceremony on
time within the three consecutive Mondays.

After the department’s planning period, a letter was sent to the principal asking for
permission to conduct the study. His approval indicated his support to the said research. Hence,
the data gathering procedure has formally started. The data were gathered on July 25, 2016
until August 8, 2016, every Monday, during the conduct of the flag-raising ceremony in the
SPRCNHS Quadrangle. The students, who were not able to attend the activity five minutes after
the ceremony has already started, formed another line and were asked to fill out a self-made
research form created by the department. This included the information about the student’s
name, grade level, section, class adviser, address and an open-ended question wherein their
reason/s for becoming late was indicated. The accomplished forms were collected by the
members of the Research Department through the assistance of the other members of the
SPRCNHS faculty.
 After collecting the data, the answers were encoded in an excel format wherein all the
information needed for the study were reflected in a tabular and graphical form.
All responses of the participants are considered to secure the accuracy of data collected. The
responses of the students regarding the reasons in failing to attend the ceremony on time as
stated in the questionnaires were divided into categories and subcategories as follows based on
school form 2:
a. Domestic-Related Factors
a.1. Had to take care of siblings/grandparents
a.2. Early marriage/pregnancy
a.3. Parents' attitude toward schooling
a.4. Doing house hold choirs in the morning
a.5. Woke up late
a.6. Family problems
a.7. Lack of water for morning bath
b. Individual-Related Factors
b.1. Minor Illness
b.2. Shame due to overage
b.3. Sleeping habit/TV show obsession
b.4. Drug Abuse
b.5. Poor academic performance
b.6. Lack of interest/Distractions
b.7. Hunger/Malnutrition
c. School-Related Factors
c.1. Teacher Factor
c.2. Physical condition of classroom/facilities
c.3. Doing assignment/output before going to school
c.4. Peer influence
d. Geographic/Environmental
d.1. Distance between home and school
d.2. Armed conflict (incl. Tribal wars & clan feuds)
d.3. Difficulty in transportation mode/Traffic
d.4. Calamities/Disasters
e. Financial-Related Factors
e.1. Working student
e.2. Taking daily allowance from relatives; and
f. Others
f.1 back subject

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

This section presents the analysis and interpretation of the data from the tardy
students. Collected data were presented in tabular and graphical forms for the benefits of the
readers as well as the subject of the study. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the
demographic profile and reasons for tardiness.

Table 1. Sex of the Late Comers for Flag-Raising Ceremony

July 25, 2016 August 1, 2016 August 8, 2016 Total

Grade level
Male Female Male Female Male Female
7 156 111 177 132 117 95 788
8 204 176 162 126 186 153 1,007
9 174 170 140 134 101 88 807
10 210 159 161 116 142 119 907
11 275 210 204 166 227 197 1,279
12 44 40 36 26 46 30 222
Total 1,063 866 880 700 819 682
5,010
Total per week 1,929 1,580 1,501

The table shows the number of late comers from the three consecutive Mondays
categorized by grade level. It can glean from the table that Grade 11 students have the highest
number of tardiness with 25.53 % followed by the Grade 8 with 20.10 %. However, the least
number belongs to Grade 12 with 4.43 % because it has small number of students. Male
comprises 55 % of the participants while 45 % are female. It implies that male students have
more tardiness than female and senior high students have more number of cases than junior
high.

Table 2. Percentage of Late Comers Based on the Number of Enrollees

Average Percentage of
Grade level number of late Number of Enrollees Late comers PER
comers Grade level
7 263 1,260 20.85%
8 336 1,061 31.64%
9 269 878 30.64%
10 302 774 39.06%
11 426 1,010 42.21%
12 74 144 51.39%
Total 1670 5,127 Average = 32.57%

The table shows that the Grade 12 students, despite of small number of enrollees, have
the highest percentage among the groups followed by Grade 11 students. The Grade 7 students
have the least percentage. The average tardiness of the students is more than 30 % of the
enrollees which mean that almost 70 % of the students attended the flag-raising ceremony. It is
evident that when the students go to the higher grade, they more experience tardiness in flag-
raising ceremony. It implies that sense of punctuality becomes lesser when the students
reached
300 higher grade level.
250
200
150
100
50
0
Male Female Male Female Male Female
July 25, 2016 August 1, 2016 August 8, 2016

Grade level 7 8 9 10 11 12

Figure 1. The Sex of the Late Comers

From the figure 1, the highest number of late comers come dated on July 25, 2016 while
lowest number is on August 8, 2016. Both male and female of Grade 11 students have the
highest frequency among the groups while the Grade 12 students have the smallest frequency.
Male have higher frequency than female students. It implies that tardiness is common among
male students.

Geographic Profile of the Late Comers

400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Narra
Binan city

Laram

Muntinlupa

Sampaguita
GSIS
Bayan Bayanan

Cabuyao

Carmona

Dasmarinas
Estrella

GMA Cavite

Magsaysay

UBL
Nueva

Sta. Rosa
Calendola

San Antonio
Bagong Silang

Cuyab

Filinvest

Landayan

Poblacion

San Roque
San Vicente
Sto. Nino
Langgam

United Bayanihan
Riverside

Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12

Figure 2. Geographical Profile of the Late Comers

Based on the figure 2, most students who are unable to attend the flag-raising
ceremony are came from barangay Langgam ,Estrella and Laram where the three barangays are
near in school. It implies that punctuality is not observed by the students who live near the
school. They did not value the time in school. Thus, this mentality must be changed. There are
few students
are came from Cabuyao, Sta. Rosa, Biňan City, Dasmarinas and GMA Cavite, but most of our
students are came from different barangays in the City of San Pedro.
 Table 3. Summary of Reasons for Tardiness of Students
Grade Grade Grade Grade Grade Grade
Reasons for tardiness 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total %
A. Domestic-Related Factors
a.1. Had to take care of
siblings/grandparents 28 30 24 37 60 12 191 3.81%
a.2. Early marriage/pregnancy 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0.02%
a.3. Parents' attitude toward schooling 9 4 1 0 4 2 20 0.40%
a.4. Doing house hold chores in the
morning 46 41 49 70 110 19 335 6.69%
a.5. Woke up late 380 607 459 483 460 81 2470 49.30%
a.6. Family problems 3 3 5 9 15 6 41 0.82%
a.7. Lack of water for morning bath 6 3 10 14 22 6 61 1.22%
B. Individual-Related Factors
b.1. Minor Illness 22 10 27 21 39 11 130 2.59%
b.2. Shame due to overage 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0.04%
b.3. Sleeping habit/TV show obsession 9 5 0 2 3 0 19 0.38%
b.4. Drug Abuse 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.04%
b.5. Lack of interest/Distractions 18 0 0 0 0 0 18 0.36%
b.6. Hunger/Malnutrition 9 1 2 1 0 0 13 0.26%
C. School-Related Factors
c.1. Teacher Factor 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 0.04%
c.2. Physical condition of
classroom/facilities 4 0 0 1 2 2 9 0.18%
c.3. Doing assignment/output before
going to school 4 3 3 8 11 4 33 0.66%
c.4. Peer influence 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0.02%
D. Geographic/Environmental
d.1. Distance between home and
school 23 24 16 31 40 2 136 2.71%
d.2. Armed conflict (incl. Tribal wars &
clan feuds) 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0.02%
d.3. Difficulty in transportation
mode/Traffic 156 223 191 192 418 58 1238 24.71%
d.4. Calamities/Disasters 3 3 0 1 3 0 10 0.20%
E. Financial-Related
e.1. Working student 0 1 0 6 10 2 19 0.38%
e.2. Taking baon from relatives 0 3 5 7 12 2 29 0.58%
F. Others 51 36 12 20 54 7 180 3.59%

f.1. back subject 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0.02%

No reason 15 7 2 3 13 8 48 0.96%
TOTAL 788 1007 807 907 1279 222 5010 100.00%
 It can be seen from the table that the main reason for being late in flag-raising
ceremony of the students is they woke up late. Some students said that they came lately to bed
that’s why they woke up late. It comprises the almost half of the reasons collected from this
research. The second main reason is difficulty in transportation or the traffic experience by the
students in barangay United Bayanihan, Narra and Estrella. The students experienced hard
thing in taking jeepneys every Monday because of the busy road where people in the nearby
barangays are busy to go their work or school. Some students said the traffic is caused by
garbage truck which usually collect garbage every Monday. The third reason is doing household
chores in the morning like cooking foods, washing dishes and the like. They need to do task
before they go to school. Some students have to take care their siblings like feeding them or
going to elementary school before they proceed to their school.

Taking baon from No reason Had to take care of Early

Calamities/Disasters f. Others
relatives 1% back subject marriage/pregnancy
0%
1%
4% 0% siblings/grandparents
Working student 4% Parents' attitude 0%
toward schooling
0% 0%
Difficulty in
Doing house hold chores in the…
transportation
mode/Traffic
25%

Distance between
home and school
3%
Doing
assignment/output
before going to
Woke up late
schoolMinor Illness
49%
1% 3%
Lack of water for morning
bath
Family 1%
problems
1%

Figure 3. Reasons for Tardiness of the Students

From the figure above, 49 % of the reasons for tardiness submitted by the students is
they woke up late. It occupies almost half of the graph. The second is difficulty in transportation
mode or traffic they experienced in the morning. Students have difficulties in getting ride in
jeepneys or some are just walking from their house to school. Some students experienced lack
of water for morning bath while others experienced minor illness like asthma, stomach ache,
low fever or not in good condition. The other reasons which is 4 % are they go back to house
because they forgot to bring some books or ID, they came from their relatives from far places,

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION OF DATA

The findings of this study is summarized below.

1. The average number of late comers for flag-raising activity is almost 30% of the students
enrollees. Most of them are Grade 11 and Grade 8 students. Male are tends to be late than
female students.
2. Senior high school students have higher cases of being late in flag-raising ceremony than
junior high. Moreover, Grade 11 students have the highest percentage of late comers in spite of
small number of enrollees. It implies as the students got higher grade level, they are not
motivated to attend the said activity.
3. Students from nearby barangays have the higher number of late comers compare to the
students from far places. The mentality for tardiness and Filipino time must be revised.
4. The common reasons given by the students are they woke up late, difficulty in
transportation/traffic and doing house hold chores in the morning can be overcome if the
students know and apply time management. It is a matter of self-discipline and practice that
makes reform in the attitude of the students.
5. Almost half of the reason is woke up late and some students said that they went to bed late.

RECOMMENDATION

The following are the suggestions of research department in consonance to this study:
1. The students must be guided by the parents/guardians in their time management since the
main reason is they woke up late. They must know on how to budget their time in their
household activities and take bed time early.
2. Students must be advised by the teacher personally especially the adviser if the tardiness is
habitual. This may touch the emotion of the students that may lead to self-actualization.
3. The adviser must inform regularly the parents/guardians about the tardiness of their child.
Monitoring of the adviser about the punctuality of the students is the first move that the
adviser can do to address this school problem.
4. Parents-teacher conference may also arranged with those parents whose child was observed
to be tardy. Teachers may suggest ways on how to avoid tardiness in school and they may make
an agreement to settle this problem.
5. An arranged home visitation may be done by the teachers to the students have habitually
tardiness in school so that the parents/guardians may fell the concern of the teachers to their
child.
6. Reward system may be given by the school administrators to the sections who have
complete attendees in flag-raising ceremony with recognition to the adviser during the
ceremony.
7. If the number of tardiness continues to grow, community service may be forced to the late
comers like cleaning of Quadrangle, corridors, laboratories, guard house, canals, roads near the
school and even comfort rooms provided a waiver given to all parents about the new policy for
late comers.
8. Future researches may be conducted in relation to the tardiness of the students not only in
flag-raising ceremony but also on their classes.

References
Paren, R. A. ( 2016 ). Descriptive research on tardiness of students in grade X Phoenix
section. Kidapawan City Region XII
DepEd Order No. 50 s. 2015. Observance/Conduct of Flag raising and lowering ceremonies and
proper sequence in official DepEd programs involving the singing of the Philippine
National Anthem. Retrieved from
Malik, T. A; Ladhani, S. & Bhamani, S. ( 2005 ) Decreasing student tardiness through strategic
reward system: an action research report. Volume 2( 2)