Poor attendance at school is a problem especially with students living in poverty. Linked to attendance problems are low graduation rates. As the Code Red articles showed, the greatest number of students who had not completed high school in Hamilton were living in the poorest parts of the City. Manitoba 's population health studies that have data on children from birth have shown that only 29% of the very poorest children in the Province graduate. So there is a serious problem and the current discussion on attendance and the concept of paying students to attend school is timely.
There are complex reasons students are not attending school, and so not graduating, including inappropriate school programs, lack of success in literacy, family problems such as youth caring for a disabled adult, lack of connection to any adult in school, lack of a caring adult to help support schooling , and frequent moves amongst schools so that students feel no connection to a school. All these issues still need attention. Schools must go on searching for ways to better engage students intellectually. socially, and institutionally. They must secure greater success in literacy (as this is the greatest predictor of success in high school), and provide a caring environment. The community has a big role in supporting young people through mentoring, after school activities including athletics, and the provision of worthwhile work experience, which may help students find a career pathway and so see the value of schooling . Families in poverty need more support in everything from decent affordable accommodation, living wages, access to health care, to help in parenting. Support here would, for example, reduce the moving from one neighborhood to another in search of cheap accommodation adn so reduce the amount of changing of schools. Adequate income would reduce stress and related mental health problems on families and so improve the relations within them.
Two major programs currently exist that provide money to students: Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board's limited Memorial Bursaries, which provide money to students based on need; and the Focus on Youth hiring- at- risk youth program. The Memorial Bursaries are part of an approach to equity . Although older than the anti-classism guidelines of the HWDSB Equity policy, they fit under that umbrella. Focus on Youth, in return for a wage provides students with training, work skills, two further credits towards the Ontario Secondary School Diploma and experience which can lead to other paid employment.
Rewards have been used for a long time to motivate students and come in many different forms as well as monetary rewards. Sometimes knowing there is a breakfast waiting for you at school improves attendance, as does the chance to play on a team, or have a free school trip. Being respected by ones peers at school is a big item for youth and can be a positive motivator for coming to school.
Rewarding students by paying them to come to school assumes youth who are not in school only need a monetary impetus to improve attendance, which is too simplistic. There are complex reasons why kids do not attend. It seems also to assume that kids do not want to learn, which may not be true, as other things may be getting in the way. It has been used in the States but seems a rather capitalist approach!
There are only so many resources that society is willing to provide, so where these precious resources are placed must be where there is the greatest chance of success. There was a small experimental program in about 2000-2004 where senior elementary students were paid to attend school in Hamilton in a few grades. The program faded away as it did not lead to the big results that were hoped for.
Rather than paying students to stay in school there could be improvements to student supports from an equity lens. In Britain the municipality has provided transportation, sports equipment, uniforms, and free hot lunches to students in need. In Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board there are a series of programs but they are not part of a whole package. So there are bus fares provided in several circumstances, some free food in other programs, and clothing closets where second hand clothing may be accessed, but not necessarily the proper gym clothing or shoes. It would be good to ensure that all students can attend school with the same basic resources, whatever these are determined to be. Student supports should align with a policy for the charging of fees.
To recap a " paying to stay in school" program may remove attention and energy away from the many elements that are needed for students living in poverty to be successful in school. It may encourage public policy makers to turn attention away from addressing the environmental circumstances in which youth in poverty are living, over which youth have little control.It may alienate donors on the lines of "what are young people coming to that they must be paid to take advantage of schools which are already to their benefit, paid by us at cost by the tax payers". It paints a negative picture of the student. It suggests that today's young people can only be motivated by money, and that otherwise they will be lazy , lacking in responsibility and motivation to attend school, which is all their own fault.
There is much that should be done to improve school attendance. Schools, parents and community all have a responsibility, and we all need to talk about it and act.
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