I think that awarding good grades with cash would be a bad idea. Kids would definitely become more competitive but this would just open doors to more bullying both from the kids that do well and the ones who don't do so well at school.The kids that don't do well would feel resentment and hatred toward their better peers and the kids who do well would rub the others noses in the fact that they aren't as good as them.
Some children aren't that good academically and never will be no matter how hard they try so I think it is a bit unfair to put this pay scheme in place. There should be incentives to reward kids if they improve their own individual grades so they are working toward the goal themselves and not competing with others. This then shows them they have a goal to work towards. But why use money? Why not use other incentives like a free fun period where they get to chose what they would like to do for an hour or so?
By introducing a fun way of learning and encouraging kids to get on with each other in a friendly uncompetitive manner is surely a better idea. The problems with bullying are always going to be there and people need to think carefully before introducing schemes like these which can seem like a good idea at first but then turn backfire.
If this idea was introduced it would probably work for a while but then pupils would just lose interest and carry on working at their own pace getting the same grades. I believe that if kids want to work they will and nothing will change that whatever the incentive. They have to remember it is their future at the end of the day and perhaps this needs to be emphasized rather than just handing out cash.
When I was at school there was a weekly money prize for best attendance and no one wanted to win because this meant going up on stage at the end of assembly and collecting the reward in front of the entire school. This was really embarrasing and in the end no one really cared how good their attendance was because they weren't prepared to stand up in front of the school and look like a 'goody two shoes'. It was guarenteed that whoever won would be humiliated for the entire week by the bullys of the school. School just isn't a nice place to be sometimes especially when it is easy for an achievement to make you a target for bullies.
Perhaps the incentive would work in some circumstances but these need to be well researched before being put into practise but I fear that some kids could be left out in the cold and totally give up on school altogether because they feel like failiures who will never win the money no matter how much they try.