Srinagar: The communications clampdown in Kashmir since August 5 has left an ambitious project of the School Education Department to monitor attendance of teachers online on real time basis non-functional.
As reported by Kashmir Reader in June, the project to monitor the attendance of teachers at Kashmir schools had been introduced on pilot basis at several schools including Government Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Rajbagh, S P Higher Secondary School, Lal Chowk, Girls Higher Secondary School, Amira Kadal and Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Kothi Bagh-in Srinagar.
However, since the government suspended internet services in the valley in August, the project has been left non-functional and could not be replicated at the rest of schools in Kashmir, sources told Kashmir Reader.
They said that many higher secondary schools in Srinagar had been “virtually non-existent on papers” because there was no database about the attendance of teaching staff at the institutions with the DSEK.
“Although there is a database of teachers with the department, but it has not been updated since 2017,” sources said.
The online monitoring system was also aimed at providing a better alternative to the biometric system of attendance in place at schools presently.
The biometric system of attendance as per sources, was turning out to be “not that effective” lately.
An official explained that under the new online system, a teacher at a particular school will have to mark his/ her attendance on a common tab installed at the school.
The attendance by teachers at schools across valley will be monitored by the DSEK on real time basis, he said.
The official said that they won’t have to ask every single school for the attendance of individual teachers there.
“We will be able to check the time a particular teacher reached the school. We are going to attach the biometric attendance with the new system,” he said adding the system will also provide the geographical location of the school, “which means there is no room a teacher can mark his/her attendance from home”.

Irshad Khan