Image Source: Deccan Herald
Karnataka will revolutionize class-room transparency and efficiency by introducing an AI-based facial recognition attendance system in all aided and government schools from the 2025-26 academic year. The School Education and Literacy Department has approved this mass-scale digital initiative, a first-of-its-kind transition from manual to technology-driven, transparent attendance.
Key Highlights
Statewide Implementation: 52,686 government and aided schools will be impacted by the AI-based attendance system, reaching over 52 lakh students—40.7 lakh in government schools and 11.8 lakh in aided schools.
How It Works: Teachers will photograph students by using a mobile application, which are then automatically paired with pre-stored data. Real-time attendance is recorded with time stamps and delivered directly to the central education department servers.
Project Scope: The project, as a part of Niranthara (ongoing) project, is worth ₹5 crore and is under the management of Karnataka State Data Centre (KSDC).
Transparency & Accountability: By eliminating manual roll-calls, the system eliminates errors and padded entries, ensuring that student incentives and funding releases are based on accurate, current information. This discourages fund abuse related to padded attendance.
Immediate Monitoring: Daily attendance data will be made available to the authorities, allowing timely action against absenteeism and irregularities and promoting administrative efficiency.
Data Protection: The Education Ministry is developing a specialized software platform for ensuring robust data protection and privacy.
Wider Educational Context: The measure is one part of wider trends in AI-informed education that include the application of technology to tailor learning, monitor attendance, and predict academic risk, all of which enhance wider inclusive and effective pedagogic approaches.
From the coming academic year, the first period in the school will no longer begin with a teacher calling out names from a register. Rather, a snap shot on a cellular app will confirm who is in class, who is not in class, and send the information to the headquarters of the education ministry in real time—transparency and accountability in the school attendance process.
Karnataka's AI-based attendance system is an example for India's digital revolution in education, with the possibility of increased transparency, efficiency, and fairness in the classroom.
Source: The Hans India
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