According to a new report that sanctions alone are unlikely to work, pizza parties and iPads are being offered to students as incentives to improve attendance at school.
Some UK schools use fines, detention and letters to crack down on their homes to crack down on them in their absence, while others prefer to draw motorcycles, iPads, travel and prize draws for “praise stamps.”
Another incentive used is the school's prom tickets for 11th grade students, with key criteria for being allowed to attend.
A study by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) reported that schools that combine reward and sanctions have a higher student involvement with attendance policies.
“Pupils at these schools seemed motivated to attend because they saw a tangible benefit in doing so,” the report said.
“In contrast, people in sanction-led schools were more likely to perceive attendance policies as punitive and unfair, especially if they felt their absence was attributable to circumstances beyond their control.”
The absence of schools was a key concern for the government as attendees plummeted after the pandemic turmoil. NFER research shows that illness, mental health challenges and holidays in periods were common causes of absence.
The latest figures issued by the Ministry of Education revealed that the number of students who were “severely absent” in the UK last year reached record highs and fraudulent absenteeism totaled.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson supports the use of parental fines for absences, which increased from 60 to 80 pounds in September, but in an interview with the Guardian, actor Anna Maxwell Martin described them as “cruel and ridiculous.”
Matt Walker, senior research manager at NFER and co-author of the report, said:
“Responses to the study suggest that schools should consider prioritizing encouraged and personalized approaches in addition to punitive sanctions.”
The study features voices from the classroom – Understanding how secondary schools can help students return from their absence is based on a survey of 600 secondary school teachers and leaders in the UK, as well as in-person interviews with staff and students from junior high schools funded by nine states.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Union of Education, said: “The message is clear: fines, punitive actions, bribery are not working.
“More students are suffering from anxiety and not satisfied [special educational needs and disabilities] You should have needs that lead to increased absences, and individual support, specialist input, and idyllic backups.
Pepe Diacio, general secretary of the Association of School and University Leaders, said: “While proper compensation and sanctions play a role, we quickly identify why students are absent from school and help them return to classrooms as quickly as possible.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Principals, said:
