Ranchi, Sept. 1: When teachers take the issue of attendance very seriously, students do so too.

The state government’s policy to recognise good attendance in schools has seen an improvement among students but only around one-third of the state-run schools follow this system, finds a survey report.

The study also suggests that teachers, who have taken up the issue of attendance with the village education community, have been able to regularise the attendance of their students.

Further, village schools with huge playgrounds attract more students as compared to schools with no playground or smaller ones. Also, brighter schools are more appealing than dull ones, said Harishwar Dayal, the regional director of the Institute for Human Development (IHD), Jharkhand unit.

The IHD conducted the survey on the education scenario in Jharkhand in association with Preet Rustagi and Rajini Menon of Delhi.

The report suggested that only 30 per cent of the 17,058 primary schools give students an “attendance incentive”. The same also applies to 1,326 schools of the 4,270 upper primary schools across the state.

Though the government does not provide any medal or cash award, mementos are surely given out. “Students are enthused and want to come to school to be among the top,” said Ashok Kumar Sharma, the Ranchi district education officer. Also, children of migrated labourers need to be brought under the education policy, he said.

The report pointed out that Hindi, which was the medium of instruction at the rural schools, was proving to be an alien language. “Unless tribal languages are incorporated in the primary-level, the problem cannot be solved,” Dayal pointed out.

Absenteeism of teachers was also highlighted. About one-third of the teachers posted in tribal areas reach school very late and leave before the scheduled time.

Besides, 34 per cent of the rural primary schools have only one teacher while about three per cent have none.