A peep into the classrooms of any government school shows the poor attendance of students. Lack of knowledge in students about academic importance and lesser parental involvement have been some major factors in affecting the attendance of students. Educationists have identified the grey areas behind the low attendance ratio in government schools. In order to improve daily attendance, many teaching initiatives have been designed, developed and are being implemented in government schools. Some of the most innovative ideas to improve daily attendance in schools are:
1. My Attendance, My Responsibility:-
The term ‘responsibility’ holds any person accountable for the deeds either good or bad. The same psychology has been applied in this holistic learning experience. According to this activity, the teacher makes students aware of their responsibility towards achieving education. They are asked to own up the responsibility of their absence in school. This innovative teaching strategy makes it mandatory for students to explain the reason for their absence.
The teacher can ask the students to be regular to school for improve daily attendance and explain them about the rewards and recognition that they can win for their full attendance. Every child marks his or her attendance in a notebook assigned for the purpose. On days of being absent, the student puts down in writing the reason for failing to attend school on that particular day. Self attendance technique infuses a feeling of accountability and motivates students to be regular to school.
To encourage government school students to be present throughout the month, the school administration confer 100% attendance awards to such students. At times parents are invited by the school authority to witness the ceremony where their child is being felicitated. In some schools parents are recognized and thanked for being instrumental in child’s full attendance ratio in school.
2. Profiling
During school days, friends or classmates are considered the most prized possession of any student. Peer pressure or behavior leaves a mark on the personality of all growing students. This one-of-its-kind innovation i.e. profiling, is the latest teaching strategy adopted to give a boost to attendance graph in government schools. As a part of this activity, the teacher can divide the class into pairs or in a group of four students each. The group members or partners in case of pairs are entrusted with the responsibility to ensure regular class attendance. This division helps the teachers keep a close tab on the reasons for students’ absenteeism.
Regularity in attendance is not the only benefit of this innovative teaching strategy but there are several other benefits too. Attending school regularly directly affects the learning outcome of any student. It improves the academic results of students in the examinations. During this activity, the group members are asked to meet each other within school premises and keep a record of each other’s daily attendance. If one of the group members is absent on a particular day, one or all other teammates visit the absentee’s house to inquire about the reason. All the relevant details are recorded in the students’ profile.
3. Reward for Attendance: –
Recognition for an achievement always reaps in positive results. Rewards and recognition work wonders for school students. In order to boost the class attendance, the students are encouraged to be regular in order to be applauded by the class teacher and school authorities. According to this innovative teaching strategy, simple rewards are given to the students who maintain a 100% attendance in school. This innovation not just encourages regular students but also inspires the absentees to attend school on a daily basis. Students who show signs of improvement in class attendance are also praised for their efforts and are rewarded too.
There are different ways in which teachers reward students for improving their class attendance. In one of these ways, the teacher keeps an eye on the class attendance of students. At the end of the month, those with maximum attendance are appreciated and rewarded by the class teacher. Sometimes, the teacher gives some extra play time to these students as a reward. Whereas the senior students are rewarded with stationery items like pens, notebooks and more.
Drop-out rate and absenteeism in schools can be reduced by switching to other innovative classroom teaching techniques. One such way is organizing quizzes as rewards for regular students. Teachers often make a list of regular and punctual students and involve them in various school competitions. These students are also applauded in morning school assembly and appreciated for their being present throughout the month.
The other unique ways adopted, innovated and implemented in schools include rewarding students through quiz and extra curricular activities. Different colored stars are given to students who show distinct improvement in their class attendance. Golden, silver and green colored stars are given as rewards to school students depending upon their attendance rate. The recipients of the stars wear these star badges on their uniform throughout the month which inspires other students to be regular to school in order to get the star badges.
4. Holding the flag: –
Academic improvement of a student is directly proportional to being regular to classes. In order to refrain students from bunking classes or missing school for trivial reasons, teachers often choose creative ideas to improve class attendance. ‘Holding the flag’ activity gives students pride for their attendance consistency and works as a reward that boosts their morale.
According to this innovation for increasing class attendance, the teacher takes class attendance in school assembly. The class with maximum number of students is announced as the flag bearer for the day. Usually, the teacher assigns different colored flags to different classes depending upon the attendance of students in each class. Like, green colored flag is given to the class that has 100% or maximum attendance, yellow colored flags imply average attendance whereas red colored flags are given to the class that has the poorest attendance. Class with green colored flag holds it with pride and sets an example for other classes. Such motivational zero-investment innovations keep students’ spirits high and also promote healthy competition amongst classes.