Taking into account that absenteeism is becoming a problem in Higher secondary schools, the government of Odisha has decided to make attendance system digital.
According to official sources, beginning with the 2020-21 academic session, teachers will upload attendance on an app and it will get registered in the school website. And then SMSs will be sent by the school to parents on whether their child had been attending classes or not. And students with less than 50 per cent attendance will be issued a show cause notice.
The sources further added that teachers will need to update attendance of students on the SATH-e (sustainable action for transforming human capital-education) App, launched by Niti Aayog in Odisha last year.
Absenteeism in higher secondary schools (HSS) is becoming a problem and it is not limited to just science students, who usually opt for coaching centres to prepare for various entrance exams, but also among students studying commerce and Arts, informed the sources to the Times of India.
“The digital attendance programme was launched in schools last year as a pilot project and this year we are going to implement it in higher secondary sections through the SATH-e App. Besides attendance data of students will be sent to their parents through SMSs so that they know how many classes they attended,” said a senior official from School and Mass Education Department.
The government is also planning to ask coaching centre to refrain from conducting classes during school hours so that students will attend classes. Many coaching classes though said that changing timings is not possible as they cater to mostly those students who have completed schooling and are preparing for entrance examinations.