The landscape of attendance tracking in Pune’s government schools is on the brink of a technological revolution. Starting December 1, attendance records will no longer rely on manual entries but will embrace the efficiency of attendance bots, ushering in a new era of precision and convenience.
Under the new system, teachers will be required to download a chatbot onto their smartphones. Through this chat window, daily attendance updates based on the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+) records will be seamlessly transmitted, marking a departure from traditional methods and ensuring real-time accuracy.
UDISE+, a robust management information system, serves as the backbone for over 15 lakh schools, 95 lakh educators, and a staggering 26.5 crore students across the country. The introduction of attendance bots is poised to address historical challenges, including proxy attendance, delayed registrations, and missing names.
Implementation is set to commence shortly after the Diwali break, covering all government schools. The attendance bot will be operational for students in standards I through X, with teachers tasked to input attendance data daily between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. The “Swift Chat” application, available for download from the Play Store, will serve as the platform for this streamlined process.
To ensure a smooth transition, teachers, who have already registered on the portal with a cellphone number, must complete an additional registration on the app. In instances where technical issues arise, teachers can use another teacher’s login to expedite the attendance process.
While some teachers express optimism about the efficiency of the system, acknowledging its alignment with modern technology, challenges are anticipated during the rollout. A teacher from a Zilla Parishad School in Pune asserts that the process should be smooth in well-connected urban areas, where connectivity issues are minimal. However, the true test lies in more remote locations plagued by recurrent cellular network challenges.
Acknowledging the initial concerns, a technical team is actively addressing portal issues, with assurances from the state commissioner of education that any glitches will be promptly rectified. Despite challenges, the transition to attendance bots is hailed as a significant step towards modernizing record-keeping practices in government schools.
