Initially, four colleges, one school will be selected.
ISLAMABAD:
The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) is working on a pilot project to install card-reading machines at educational institutes to keep record of teachers, students and the non-teaching staff.
A summary for the “Students Identification Project”, which will initially be introduced at five educational institutes, has been sent to the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) secretary for approval.
Initially, the project will be launched in four colleges and one school and a private firm will be hired for the installment of the card-reader machines, training of staff, updating the data and its maintenance.
The company will charge Rs50 per student. There are around 20,000 students in these five institutes.
“Since education is free under the constitution, the government will pay the amount which accounts for about Rs12 million annually, which also included the equipment,” said FDE Director-General Rafique Tahir.
According to the proposed plan, the machines will not only be used for attendance of students, teachers and other staff but also keep record of teachers’ training and basic data.
The project is likely to be started in one of the institutes within a month time followed their installation at the other institutions by the end of this year.
The institutes which will be included in the pilot project include the Islamabad College for Boys G-6/3, the Islamabad College for Girls F-6/2, Post Graduate College for Women F-7/2the FG Postgraduate College of Commerce H-8/4 and the Islamabad Model School for Boys G-9/4.
Furthermore, the student Identification project will also send an alert message to the parents and the main data centre to keep all the people in the loop with each development.
Tahir said that the results of the students will also be updated through the software.
The project will later be introduced in all 424 education institutions working under the FDE.
Commenting on the new initiative, FDE Director Budget Ghulam Hussain Soho said it was important to initiate the project given the prevailing circumstances in the country besides making it mandatory for teachers to maintain regular attendance.
“Though there is no such culture of absenteeism in the capital the step will make a teacher more responsible in maintaining punctuality,” he said.
Similarly, Tahir also termed it inevitable to not only keep a check on teachers and students but also an attempt to do away with the hassle of writing down everything on a register.
Model Colleges director appointed
CADD on Wednesday appointed Prof Saeedullah from the Islamabad Model College G-6/3 as Director Model Colleges. The post fell vacant in November 2013.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 2nd, 2014.
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