Govt teachers to have smart card attendance

While the smart cards were expected to be introduced in March this year, the process got stalled after the pandemic-induced lockdown. A senior official from the School Education Department told DT Next that smart cards will be mandatory for all teachers in government and government-aided schools while on duty.

“We have already started distributing smart cards to the schools and it would be completed before December 31. The cards will be distributed to about three lakh teachers,” the official said. The State government has spent about Rs 1.7 crore for this purpose.

After completing the distribution, the new attendance system using scanners for screening the cards will also be set up at all these schools across the State.

The official also explained that once a smart ID card is placed onto the attendance system, the teachers will also have to validate their fingerprints.

“The system will then verify, match with the stored data to authenticate the user,” he said, adding, “apart from the smart card attendance system, in large government schools, which have more number of teachers, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) scanner will also be installed at all the entry and exit point of the institutions.” As the smart card comes equipped with a microchip, the official said the scanners will capture and store the time and other details whenever a teacher enters or leaves the school, which will be updated with the Education Management Information System (EMIS), a common data base for schools.

At present, 37,300 government’s primary, middle, high, and higher secondary schools are functioning in the State. In addition, 8,400 government-aided schools are also functioning.