Indian Authorities Pressure Schools to Comply with Biometric Attendance Order

Government authorities in India are putting pressure on some of the country’s junior science colleges to comply soon with an order to implement biometric attendance tracking for students.

As The Times of India reports, the order first came down only two months ago, applying to schools in Aurangabad, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nashik, and Pune, threatening to revoke state recognition to those that failed to comply. Now, the education ministry has asked the schools to report on whether or not they have implemented the biometric tracking systems, and asking those who have not yet implemented the systems to explain why.

The program reflects the growing prevalence of biometric authentication in everyday life in India, largely thanks to the country’s Aadhaar national ID program, which associates face, fingerprint, and iris biometrics with the biographic data pertaining to individual citizens. And the government’s pressure on schools to comply with the requirement underscores the state’s intense interest in propagating the use of biometric technology as part of a larger ‘Digital India’ modernization program.

Of course, for the schools, it’s all a bit much, with The Times reporting that multiple institutions are struggling to find and implement the appropriate technology. But other biometric time and attendance tracking deployments suggest that the technology will ultimately improve efficiency, saving school administrators time and money.

Source: The Times of India

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August 16, 2018 – by Alex Perala