US school pays students to go to study hall

A high school in the southern US state of Georgia is offering students who are weak in math and science eight dollars an hour to go to study hall and review their pet peeve subjects.

"We started on Tuesday. The kids are very enthusiastic," Mike Robinson, the principal of Creekside High School in Fairburn, said.

Forty students -- 20 from middle school and 20 high-schoolers -- were selected on the basis of their poor grades in the two subjects and invited to attend two-hour remedial classes twice a week in exchange for money, which is provided by a private foundation.

Everyone who was selected was present at the first session, said Robinson.

At the end of the 15-week experiment, a student who attended every session would be 480 dollars richer -- and able to do the calculation to work that out.

Those who get a "B" grade or better in math or science after finishing the course will be eligible for a bonus of 125 dollars, leaving them potentially 605 dollars better off in total.

"You know, in our community, you have to be really creative to get some students interested," said Robinson.

"I think this incentive is going to work," added the principal of the Creekside High, which has 2,500 students.