Scottish children are being "bribed" with games consoles and mountain bikes to turn up for school under a head teacher's plan to address soaring truancy rates.
Blairgowrie High School in Perthshire is entering pupils into prize draws for hitting attendance targets, following an alarming national rise in absenteeism.
Those who manage to attend school five days a week are entered into a draw which can see them win small prizes, such as a £5 voucher or hot chocolate and cake with the head teacher.
Children who turn up for 92 per cent of lessons over a full term can win larger prizes in a "grand draw", such as Nintendo Switches which cost around £250, or mountain bikes.
Paul Cunningham, who joined the school as head teacher in August, said the initiative, which he has called "In 2 Win", had created a "buzz" among pupils and had been designed to "spark enthusiasm" about coming to school.
However, critics labelled the plan "anathema" to the true meaning of education and sent a message that learning was so unpalatable that "children have to be bribed to come into school".
Across Scotland there is rising concern about attendance levels, which have fallen to record lows since schools were shut for months under Covid restrictions.
"We need to do something that's quite highly visible and going to spark a bit of interest and enthusiasm into coming to school," Mr Cunningham told The Courier.
"So we started up this 'In 2 Win' initiative. The bigger draw is a termly draw, so if you are at 92 per cent attendance or above come the end of the term, we have a grand draw that is in the assembly hall; all the young people who meet that go along.
"Last term the star prize was a Nintendo Switch and this term the star prize was a mountain bike."
He added: "So far it's having some positive impact. Our S1 attendance this year is better than it was last year; our term-two attendance has improved from last year."
Blairgowrie High's attendance rate was 84.8 per cent in 2023. According to the most recent figures, the national average is 87.6 per cent for Scottish secondary schools, down from 90.7 per cent before the pandemic.
Those from the most deprived parts of Scotland fail to turn up for more than 15 per cent of classes, with attendance rates at just 83.5 per cent. State school pupils from the wealthiest areas are present 91.8 per cent of the time.
Chris McGovern, a former head teacher who is now the chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said the reward for education should be "the bright future it brings" rather than games consoles or shopping vouchers.
"Bribing children to turn up for education is anathema," he said. "It sends a dreadful message that education is so unpalatable children have to be bribed to come to school, especially not with a Nintendo Switch as there are so many that are addicted to these games. It's the last thing they need."
The Scottish Tories urged the SNP government to tackle what they warned could become a "truancy epidemic" rather than leaving it to head teachers to offer pupils prizes for turning up.
"Jenny Gilruth [the Education Secretary] should be ashamed of the rise in school absences," Miles Briggs, the party's education spokesman, said.
"'It is her responsibility as education secretary to support head teachers in offering real incentives to attend lessons rather than forcing them to offer prizes."
The Scottish Government earlier this month hailed a "welcome" improvement in attendance rates, though they had risen by only 0.1 per cent on the previous year, to 90.3 per cent across all schools. It was the second lowest figure since records began two decades ago.
A spokesman said: "We are working with Education Scotland to address issues of attendance and identify ways to make further improvements across the country."