Punjab govt to install biometric sensors to check absenteeism at colleges

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Khalid Khattak

In order to curb the increasing trend of absenteeism among college teachers, the Punjab Higher Education Department has decided to install biometric sensors in public sector colleges to have complete and exact details about their arrival and departure.

In the first phase, the department would soon launch a pilot project under which the digital device would be installed in ten selected colleges of Lahore. Depending upon it success, the facility would be offered at more than 430 colleges of the province.

An official of the department, on condition of anonymity, said the department had been receiving complaints on frequent basis that some teachers, in most of the colleges, were habitual absconders and were not ensuring their presence at colleges during the whole working hours. He said such complaints had been received even about the non-teaching staff.

“Teachers manage their attendance on duty registers and leave college early to mint more and more money by teaching at private colleges and tuition centres,” he said, adding, “This absenteeism is certainly costing a lot to the department.”

He said the skyrocketing inflation was compelling people to go for more than one jobs but it did not justify absenteeism.

Biometric sensors, he said, would eliminate paper-attendance while complete record would be available on a simple click. The device would also help to assess the performance of teaching and non-teaching staff, he added.

He said each staffer would have to touch the biometric sensor to check in and out, adding the device would automatically verify their thumb impressions.

It is pertinent to mention that, a couple of months ago, the department had issued strict instructions to colleges to ensure punctuality of teaching and non-teaching staff, asking all the staff members be present in colleges for full working hours i.e from 8am to 3pm.

The government has decided to make use of modern technology after failing to control absenteeism, sources in the department said. They said a list of ten colleges, five from male and five from female colleges, was being prepared where the devices would be installed.

They said the colleges were yet to be finalized for pilot project in Lahore. However, they said, the device would be installed at big colleges including Govt Islamia College Civil Lines, Govt College of Science, Wahdat Road, Govt MAO College, Govt College for Women, Gulberg and Govt Islamia College for Women, Cooper Road.

When contacted, Punjab Higher Education secretary Ahad Khan Cheema confirmed the development, saying the new system would soon be introduced in ten selected colleges of the provincial metropolis.

Talking about financial aspect of the said project, he said each device would cost from six to seven thousand but it would improve the results of the department.

He said the device would also be used to evaluate teachers’ performance which was not less than a challenge for the department.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=210320