Children are being offered computer games consoles as prizes for turning up to school.

Nintendo Wiis are among a string of incentives in an initiative set up by Brighton and Hove City Council.

Digital cameras, Ipods and tickets to watch Brighton and Hove Albion are also up for grabs.

The gifts are intended to boost attendance rates at the city's secondary schools but have raised questions about the way anti-truancy measures are pursued.

They will be given as prizes for a draw which can only be entered by pupils who do not miss a day of school for a month, between April 21 and May 23 Organiser Maggie Baker, the city's principle education welfare officer, said they were a continuation of work which has improved attendance in the past year.

She said: "We are trying to target that particular period of time this year to see how well it works. It will cover the period when children in Key Stage 3 have their SAT exams as well as part of the GCSEs and the revision stage before them."

The project, called Just 24, will be used in all of the city's secondary schools, with the exception of Cardinal Newman Catholic School, and will have specific target areas.

Brighton and Hove City Councillor David Smith said: "Anything to get children in school in learning is welcome but I'm not sure if it is the right way to go about things. Children should be in school in the first place, I'm not sure if they should be rewarded for being there."

Mrs Baker said it was important to strike a balance between "the carrot and the stick".

A similar incentive project, where children were entered into a draw for a bicycle for consistent good attendance, reduced the truancy rate at St Bartholomew's Primary in Ann Street, Brighton, by five per cent.

Paula Sargent, headteacher of Patcham High School, in Ladies Mile Road, Brighton, said: "It's a great idea to promote the importance of attendance in school. Children can't learn if they are not at school. Something like this can get them back into the habits they need."

The prizes include tickets to High School Musical at the Brighton Centre, gig tickets and backstage passes at Komedia, meals at Nandos restaurant, a free haircut and manicure from SAKs and Rush hair salons and a milkshake a week for a year from ShakeAway.

Attendance at city schools has been among the most improved in the country. Primary schools saw the attendance rate rise from 94 per cent in 2005/6 to 94.7 per cent in 2006/7. In secondary schools the rate moved from 90.7 per cent in 2005/6 to 91.6 per cent in 2006/7.

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