At the Northampton School for Boys, gift tokens and merit marks are given as rewards for good attendance. Every week, teachers write reports that record and explain why students have missed class. Competition among staff and students to earn the best results has reduced the absenteeism rate from about 20 percent to 4 percent. The chairman of Liverpool's school attendance committee blames unemployment and social problems for widespread truancy. Liverpool officials and police have joined forces to prevent small businesses from employing school children during the day, while in Birmingham, police find truants who spend their time on the streets and in shopping centers. The police have successfully reduced street crime but their impact on truancy is still being assessed. England's education minister hopes that the classroom reward system will be tried throughout the country, since he believes that the average truancy rate of 7.5 percent is unacceptable.