A report has found that 45 per cent of primary pupils at disadvantaged schools in Limerick city are regular, serious or chronic absentees.
The reasons for the truancy mostly related to home, with parents not encouraging children to attend the most cited reason. The survey was completed by 159 primary school teachers.
A regular absentee was a pupil who missed between two and five days in a block of 20. About 26 per cent in each class were classified under this heading.
Serious absentees were those who missed between six and 10 days out of every 20, and about 14 per cent of each class came under this heading.
A chronic absentee was a pupil who missed 11 or more days out of 20. Only 1.4 per cent of each class were classified in this way.
The survey, by researchers at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, states: "The reality is that it means that nearly half the children in the classes surveyed miss two days or more out of every 20".
These pupils are effectively missing about 10 per cent of their schooling, it adds. "Only when put like this does the figure take on its true meaning," it says.
Parents not ensuring their children go to school was cited by 99.4 per cent of respondents as a reason for the truancy. The other most relevant reasons were: lack of routine in the home, family problems, lack of interest in education among parents, other schools having a day off, illness, bad weather and lack of attendance officers.
The authors note that most of the reasons relate to the home and parents. They say this is a concern because teachers may not be prepared to acknowledge school factors as causes.
"This runs contrary to most contemporary research in the area which suggests that much absenteeism can be accounted for by a combination of factors in the home, school and community environments," the survey says.
Teachers regarded school based factors such as homework, poor facilities and lack of communication between the school and parents as the least significant.
There are no national figures on truancy, and it is impossible to assess whether the findings of this survey apply nationally.