Gauree Malkarnekar, TNN | Jul 21, 2015, 03.49AM IST
PANAJI: Attendance registers and roll calls in schools may soon be on their way out.
Goa, under a central government scheme, will install Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance systems in two government primary schools in North Goa on a pilot basis during the current academic year. The state has been allotted 5 lakh to begin the implementation.
"Once the machines come, we will identify the schools where they will be installed," said director of education G P Bhat. The machines will make real-time attendance monitoring possible for both students and teachers and based on its success in the pilot schools it is likely to be implemented in other government primary schools, starting in the northern district.
Such systems have already been installed on similar pilot basis in some government primary schools in Jharkhand and are expected to keep a check on student strength and ensure that teachers are keeping to the prescribed school time. In most other states, the system has been proposed but remains to be implemented.
According to assessment carried out under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Goa has a student attendance of 92% at the primary school level and 90% at the upper primary school level. No all-Goa figure of teacher attendance has so far been submitted to SSA officials who are based in New Delhi.
Central government officials believe that functioning of schools will become more transparent once teachers and students start using the biometric devices, including in the supply of the midday meal scheme.