Register Signing Not Enough, Schools in Barabanki Ask Teachers to Send Selfies for Attendance

Lucknow: Government school teachers in Barabanki district of UP are now becoming selfie experts, thanks to the new ‘selfie attendance system’ in place for them. The teachers in government schools in Barabanki are not just signing attendance registers, they have also been asked to reach schools on time and send a selfie on the official WhatsApp group. Failing to do so, they will lose one full day's salary.

The step was initiated by Chief Development Officer Medha Rupam to ensure teachers reach schools on time.

While the initiative is being welcomed and criticised by many at the same time, more than 500 teachers have already been fined a day’s salary for not reaching school on time. However, questions are also being raised on why the biometric attendance system has not been installed in the schools. Many teachers, who are not tech savvy, find it difficult to click a selfie and

then send it to official WhatsApp group.

Speaking to news18, CDO Barabanki, Medha Rupam said, “This is not just implemented in the government schools, it is also being done in other departments as well. Very soon, biometric attendance system will be installed in the district as attendance is a primary issue in all the government offices. On the first day this system was implemented, more than 500 teachers were absent. Today the figure has gone down to a mere 73. This shows that the system is effective.”

“Our aim is to improve the quality of education in Barabanki and attendance was the first step. After this, we will be tracking the growth of students and their education. This system is also in place in the development department and has been very effective till now,” she added.

Reacting on the issue, Santosh Verma, general secretary of teachers association said, “We had opposed this system as this is not foolproof and was implemented in a haste. Some teachers take four to five selfies in a day, then send them on different days from the comfort of their homes. The system has more flaws than advantages. Also, it was not ascertained how many teachers have a smart phone.

Some schools in remote areas do not even have mobile network. Teachers are being harassed in a way. There is no rule in the law that allows selfies to mark attendance of the teachers and if anyone’s salary is deducted on this basis, then that is illegal. This should be stopped at the earliest and if that is not done, we will be meeting the Commissioner on this issue.”

If the teachers in schools are found surfing through social media sites during their duty, then also they would be facing the action.

Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) of Barabanki, VP Singh, said, “The procedure of selfie and verification is entirely automatic and this was implemented after instructions from CM Yogi Adityanath and Basic Education Minister Anupama Jaiswal. Teachers have been asked to reach school by 8am and send their selfies, failing to do so their salary for the entire day will be deducted. Also, if any teacher is found surfing through social media platforms, they will have to face the action.”