Skipping school :: Gulf News
For the "people respond to incentives file"

It's a family tradition:

More than two-thirds of public school pupils in the emirate failed to attend school yesterday in a bid to expand their Eid Al Fitr holiday meaning those who did attend were sent home early.
. . .
The official added parents did not seem concerned over the issue, even when school social inspectors contacted them directly to ask them to make sure their children attended school.

Note that to ensure those who skipped school did not fall behind, suffering the consequences of their actions, "those who did attend were sent home early." But perhaps those who did attend simply like school and wanted a full day of school; or perhaps they attended because they wanted to get ahead in life.

This explains a lot. At least the facts are going public.