The Department of Pre-University Education in the Indian state of Karnataka is planning to roll out a facial recognition-based attendance system for lecturers at its government-run pre-university (PU) colleges. The move is aimed at improving attendance, monitoring performance, and increasing accountability among teaching staff.
According to Bharat S, the director of the department, the system will be geo-tagged, ensuring that lecturers are physically present at their assigned locations when they mark their attendance. This is particularly important for monitoring staff who are assigned to multiple colleges to cover shortages. “At present, we are not able to monitor whether they are covering the additional responsibilities in a timely manner,” Bharat said. “The facial recognition-based system will be geo-tagged and will increase accountability among lecturers.”
Rolling Out Across Educational Institutions
The department hopes to have the system rolled out by the end of October, following a meeting with the state’s Department of e-Governance. A similar system is already in place in Karnataka’s Department of Technical Education. The department is also considering extending the system to its approximately 7,700 lecturers at aided colleges.
The initiative is part of a broader push for academic reforms intended to improve the pass percentage for second-year PU students. Following the implementation for lecturers, the department also hopes to introduce a similar facial recognition system for students in government schools, a plan that was announced in the 2025 budget but has not yet been rolled out. A key challenge for student attendance is the time it would take to photograph each student individually. To address this, the Centre for e-Governance has reportedly developed an algorithm capable of capturing multiple students in a single shot. A small pilot for this student system is planned for the government PU college in Malleswaram.
Part of a Global Trend
The move to use facial recognition for employee monitoring in the public education sector reflects a growing global trend of deploying biometric technology to manage workforces, though it frequently raises concerns among privacy advocates and labor groups about surveillance and data security.
Similar initiatives have been implemented elsewhere, including Kuwait’s aviation authority mandating facial recognition for staff attendance, and universities piloting facial recognition apps for student attendance. These deployments highlight the expanding use of biometric technology in educational and workplace settings, even as debates continue about privacy implications and the appropriate balance between accountability and surveillance.
Source: The Times of India
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
