Since May, a secondary school in Bavaria has imposed a fine of five euros if students are late. “Many people were shocked at first,” says a student representative. But there were only a few “who were consistently late.”
The fine applies to students in groups 9 to 11 at the Dürer-Gymnasium in Nuremberg. As Der Spiegel reported online, the punishment was only actually imposed in individual cases. The number of latecomers has decreased significantly since its introduction, says school director Reiner Geißdörfer. The high school students don’t feel like being reprimanded, “but the five euro fine irritates them enormously.”
If a student arrives late, he or she must report to the secretariat, unless there is an excuse for the delay. A standard invoice is issued there. If these accumulate, there is a warning. Only then will the school transfer the case to the city of Nuremberg’s fines office. This can then impose a fine: five euros per day on which the student was unauthorized absent or late.
Increased awareness of the problem
Geissdörfer said teachers now fully digitally document who is absent from class or who is late. This allows problems to be identified at an early stage. Especially when it comes to truants, it often turns out that there are also problems at home. “By the time students are noticed, it is usually too late. We have a lot of patience and want them to be successful,” he said. The school management also explained the backgrounds of the young people. They have not been shocked since, says a student representative.
The announcement of the punishment alone led to more attention being paid to the issue, Geißdörfer said. According to him, the school itself also needs to change. For example, there should be more project-oriented learning instead of many performance assessments such as unannounced tests.
How schools deal with latecomers or truants is not uniformly regulated in Germany. At the Friedrich Bergius School in Berlin, for example, a fine applies from the third time you are late: parents are invited to speak to the school management, and there is also early work for the student, such as sweeping leaves in the school. schoolyard.
Source: Krone
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