7K government schools to get biometric attendance

In the first phase, biometric attendance systems will be in place in 7,000 schools at a total cost of Rs 15.30 crore.

The School Education Department, in its order, said the government believed that the biometric machines would curb discrepancies in attendance, a major complaint about schoolteachers. The number of complaints was especially high in rural areas.

A senior official of the department said on Wednesday the system would initially be in place in 3,699 high schools and 4,040 higher secondary schools across TN. “The government has sanctioned Rs 9 crore for the first phase implementation,” the official said.

At least two biometric devices would be installed if the school’s staff strength was more than a hundred. The district education officer would monitor the scheme and ensure that the machines were being used optimally, the official said. Recently, biometric attendance system was introduced in select schools in Perambalur district and a school in Porur on the outskirts of Chennai on a pilot basis.

“After, its success, the government took steps to introduce the system in all schools,” he said. In the second phase, the government would release Rs 6.31 crore for the scheme. Officials said manual attendance would be maintained simultaneously till the biometric system was completely in place.

In the next academic year, the authorities would take steps to implement biometric attendance for teachers in all the 57,000 government schools in the state, sources said.