In this era of globalization, education is considered a first step for every human activity. Globally, learners are expected to attend school regularly per the national school calendar and rest after school, during weekends, holidays, and school holidays.

Aim: The study developed intervention guidelines to mitigate the psychological impact of irregular high school attendance among learners in Vhembe District, Limpopo.

Method: A qualitative approach and an exploratory research design were employed. The study comprised 16 (sixteen) Grade 12 learners and 8 (eight) teachers from the Sibasa and Mvudi circuits in Vhembe District. Purposive sampling was utilized. The study used a semi-structured interview guide and data was collected through face-to-face interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the collected data.

Results: The results show that high school learners are engaged in irregular high school attendance and experience many negative impacts such as psychological, physical, and social problems. Teachers also confirmed that high school learners are engaged in irregular high school attendance. The objective of prolonged school attendance is to improve academic performance and knowledge of major subjects, learners experience psychological impacts such as stress and lack of concentration.

Conclusion: Vhembe high school learners attend school every day and go after school classes. Learners also attend school during weekends, holidays, and school holidays without resting. These prolonged demands of mental concentration result in a lack of attention in class, stress, burnout, and day sleeping for high school learners. Based on the findings intervention guidelines were developed during Phase 2.

Keywords: Education, guidelines, irregular attendance, learners, psychological impact