It is an initiative that could ensure the safety of girl students and also alert parents against any such possibility in time.
The Guru Nanak Girls School in Lucknow has now introduced the biometric system of attendance and has linked it to a computer for short messaging services (SMS). The computer has the mobile numbers of all parents whose daughters are enrolled in the school.
As soon as girl student records her attendance on the biometric system, a SMS is promptly sent to her parents saying that the girl has reached school and checked in.
“We have started this system to ensure safety of the girls. If a girl leaves home and does not reach school, her parents will not get any SMS and become alert. However, since there is no system of attendance at the time the school gets over and so we have asked parents to get alert if their child does not reach home within the stipulated time. In case, there are any extra classes being held, we inform parents through SMS and if the school gets over before time, we send similar SMSs,” said the school Principal Dr Kamla Singh.
A senior teacher of the school, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the system was more beneficial in checking school bunking by girls. “We had found that a large number of girls in the senior section were bunking schools and visiting shopping malls and multiplexes with their friends. During a parent-teacher interaction, when we told them of shortage of attendance of their daughters, the parents would not believe us and insisted that their daughters were regularly coming to school. This system will now inform the parents if their daughters bunk school,” she said. The new system has also been widely welcomed by parents and almost all of them want other schools to follow suit.