A Tardeo college has probably become the first institute in the city to allow parents to monitor the attendance of their children.
NSS College of Commerce has introduced a student attendance and monitoring system with the help of a new computer software. While the college can keep records of attendance, parents will be able to use the SMS-sending facility in the software to find out if their children have bunked off lectures.
Normally, lecturers monitor student attendance at colleges by a roll call and students who do not meet the minimum attendance norms are named in the ‘black list’ that is put up on the notice board. Parents are then called to the college to be told about their ward’s truancy.
But this practice has often made some parents complain. They say that the college could have warned them earlier. Also, students often complain that lecturers make mistakes in recording attendance.
Explaining the new system to be introduced in the coming academic year, college trustee Dr Jaideep Mirashi said, “The company which is implementing the software has completed the feasibility study.”
The system will require students to acquire an identity-cum-smart card once during the three-year degree course.
This card has a chip where details of the student, including fees, HSC marks, personal information like address, details of parents and mobile numbers are stored. Lecturers carry a card reader that they pass around and students have to just flash their card before the reader to record their presence. To avoid cheating by students who may carry the cards of absentee classmates, the teacher can count the number of students in the class and then cross check the figure with the card reader. The entire process is not expected to take more than five minutes.
“We are training our academic staff how to use the software. The daily information collected by the card reader will be downloaded on a daily basis. The information can be sent to parents through SMS. The same system can be used to record key events like examination attendance or course work submission to ensure that courses are completed and grades are maintained. The card can also be used as an in-house debit card to pay college fees and other payments. He just has to deposit money at the college office and the money will be credited to his
card. He can use this card to pay his canteen bill,” said Dr Mirashi.
The software is expected to cost the college Rs2 to Rs2.5 lakh. The three-year identity card will cost around Rs300.
The card reader is a reliable solution to get over the human error that is inevitable during manual recording techniques, said academicians.
“This is a good initiative and an idea that other colleges can take up. Students will think twice before bunking off lectures,” said Dr TA Shivare, principal of Hinduja College.
