Poor School Attendance

A survey from England's Department of Education last year reported that 430,000 pupils miss 15% of lectures - or close to a month of school off each year. This is an incredible amount of time off if put into perspective, however, this is not unreasonable if we are talking about college students. This report comes from K-12 education in England. Some schools in England have created a system to attract attendance from kids, "Each week the class with the best attendance record is allowed an extra five minutes' of play time, and each half term pupils with 100% attendance records are entered into a draw to win a new iPod". These incentives could possibly attract more kids to school. I personally would be excited for an extra 5 minutes of play time if all I had to do was attend class.

A teacher from one of the England schools says, "Attendance means better achievement and learning which ultimately leads to better life choices". This is similar to the High School Movement in the US, where kids began schooling more, because for kids in the US, better education meant higher wages for jobs. This is exactly what England is trying to prove to these students who don't wish to go to class.