Technical glitches mar digital attendance rollout

Teachers in some Karachi schools forced to revert to manual attendance

KARACHI:

The pilot phase of a new facial recognition-based attendance system for teachers and non-teaching staff in Sindh's public schools ran into technical glitches on its first day on Monday, forcing employees at some schools in Karachi to revert to the traditional paper-based system.

The pilot phase of the Facial Recognition Attendance Monitoring and Evaluation System (FRAMES) was launched in six district of Sindh, including Karachi East, Hyderabad, Naushahro Feroze, Jacobabad, Ghotki and Umerkot, covering 49,565 teaching and non-teaching employees.

At Idara Sharqia Government Girls Secondary School in Jacob Lines, Karachi, teachers attempting to mark their attendance through the FRAMES application received different error messages. Some were told, "Server is busy, please wait a few seconds and try again," while others received the message, "School not assigned to user."

Despite repeated attempts, several teachers were unable to register their attendance through the system. The issue could not be resolved, while attempts to contact the relevant authorities also went unanswered, forcing teachers to record their attendance manually.

The glitches raised questions about the system's readiness as authorities seek to replace paper-based attendance with a digital mechanism aimed at improving transparency and monitoring absenteeism in public schools.

Under FRAMES, employees are required to record their attendance when arriving at and leaving school. They use the FRAMES mobile application, which verifies their identity through facial recognition and records the time of attendance.

The system is also designed to work without an internet connection and allows employees to submit leave applications through the app. Staff can also access and download their monthly attendance records.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, teachers welcomed the initiative, saying it could improve transparency and help identify employees who draw salaries without regularly attending school. They said the scheduled reporting time was 8.15am, adding that most teachers arrived before the stipulated time. The digital system, they said, would provide an immediate record of punctuality and absenteeism.

Idara Sharqia Government Girls Secondary School in-charge Muhammad Khawar also described the initiative as a positive step, saying teachers were getting an opportunity to familiarise themselves with new technology. He said similar digital initiatives should be introduced in government institutions to make administrative processes more transparent and efficient.

Teachers and school administrators expressed hope that the technical problems encountered during the pilot would be addressed before the system is expanded.

According to the plan, the pilot results will be assessed before FRAMES is rolled out across Sindh in phases.