WOW - I wonder how this plan would fly in the US?


Spanish Town to Pay Kids to Read

NOBLEJAS, Spain - A small-town Spanish mayor concerned about a high dropout rate in local schools has devised a way to keep kids studying - pay them.

Agustin Jimenez, Socialist mayor of the central agricultural town of Noblejas, is recommending the town's children be given a euro - the equivalent of $1.50 - for every hour they spend reading in the local library.

The sweetener is part of a series of measures to be voted on by the Noblejas council in March. Others include funds for apartments in university towns for students from Noblejas, teachers to give private lessons to struggling students, and expert advice to parents on the virtues of keeping their children at school.

``We asked ourselves the question, 'Can we and should we keep our arms crossed while we can see that the students failing at school is ever more evident?''' Jimenez said. He said he knows of no similar program elsewhere in Spain.

A recent European Commission study showed 31 percent of Spain's students were leaving school early. Spanish students were also some of the worst at reading in Europe, with 21 percent of 15-year-olds having difficulties, compared with the EU average of 19.8 percent.

Jimenez says that in Noblejas, an economically strong town of some 4,000 inhabitants, the dropout rate is 80 percent if you consider children who simply end their schooling after the obligatory period concludes at 15 or 16.

``We are clearly losing the discipline of studying; and to stop this we need to reward or pay for the habit of studying,'' he said. ``We must educate this habit into the youngsters.''

The proposal has been met with mixed reaction from students and parents.

``Instead of giving money to people who are going to go just for the euro instead of studying, they could spend the money on a park or things for children,'' said student Maria Canada Campos.

Ana Lopez Riga, a mother of two, sees a drawback.

``They are going to go for the euro. My children - I have one who is 13 years old and the other is 9 - have told me that they are going to go to the library and spend all the hours they can just for the euros.''

Another woman, Carmen Baeza, was more optimistic.

``It could be that they get hooked on reading because of the euro and they pick up the habit of reading,'' she said.

Students will, for their euro, be expected to go to their local library or their school's library. The children will be supervised and will be expected to read or study. It is not clear if the children will receive the money, cash in hand, as they leave.

``Before I didn't go much but now I think I'll go more now,'' said student Sergio Lopez Lio.

In the article that I read about this, the idea was taken from some towns/districts in the US who had implemented the same sort of thing a couple of years ago.