SHILLONG, June 27: With teachers in East Jaintia Hills threatening to resort to agitation against the government’s decision to implement the teacher attendance monitoring system or the Ubiattendance App, the state government is now reconsidering its decision on implementing the attendance system.
The app uses a facial recognition system that reads the unique features of a face with an accuracy of about 70 per cent to identify the person and register his/her attendance even in the absence of any internet connection.
The East Khasi Hills district administration had recently launched the attendance monitoring system in a bid to put an end to unauthorised absence of school teachers. However, school teachers in East Jaintia Hills threatened to resort to agitation if the district administration implements the Ubiattendance App.
An official of the Education Department on Tuesday told The Shillong Times that the government is yet to fully implement the attendance monitoring system and called upon teachers not to oppose the move.
Meanwhile, the joint action committee (JAC) of school teachers in East Jaintia Hills said it is waiting for the report of the Education Department on the decision of the district administration to implement the system.
The JAC comprises the Jaintia Hills Lower Primary School Teachers’ Association (JHLPSTA) Khliehriat unit and Meghalaya SSA Schools Association (MSSASA), East Jaintia Hills District unit.
MSSASA president Aristotle Rymbai told The Shillong Times that the decision to implement the attendance app did not come from the Education Department.
Rymbai said during their meeting with Education Minister Rakkam A. Sangma on June 23, the minister had questioned the district administration for signing an MOU with a private firm to implement the app without obtaining NOC from the department.
The minister ordered Director of School Education and Literacy, Swapnil Tembe to seek clarification from the East Jaintia Hills deputy commissioner and submit a report to him.
“We are awaiting the report from the Education minister. We will go on agitation if we are unhappy with the report,” Rymbai said.
Clarifying that they are not against the government move to improve the attendance of the teachers, the MSSASA president said the district administration should have used its own website instead of using an app belonging to a private firm.
He stated that there is a fear among the teachers that their personal details are being shared with the private firm which owns the app.
The deputy commissioner shared the personal details of the teachers without their consent, Rymbai said while adding that teachers do not have to register on the app as they only need to log in with their phone numbers which are linked with their bank accounts.
“I have read the terms and condition of the company that developed the app. It is clearly mentioned there that the company can use personal details of the teachers for the profit of the company. I am surprised by this condition since we have given our consent unknowingly,” the MSSASA president claimed.
It may be mentioned that the East Jaintia Hills deputy commissioner had issued an order on June 21 stating that all teachers who are receiving remuneration from the state and central government and are teaching in government SSA and government-aided lower primary and upper primary schools must mandatorily use the attendance app from July 1.
Following the order, the East Jaintia Hills District Mission Coordinator of SSA had issued a notice to all cluster resource persons to conduct a training session on June 26 and 28 to train all the elementary school teachers on the Ubiattendance app.
