Slam bunk

Colleges affiliated to Gujarat University will soon introduce biometric attendance system to keep a track of hours put in by professors and discourage students from bunking lectures

Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Sunday, July 17, 2011 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/20110717201107172316357067719f285/Slam-bunk.html)
Students and professors of colleges affiliated to Gujarat University will now have to think twice before they decide to bunk lectures. The university is planning to implement the biometric attendance system in its colleges to keep a tab on their attendance records.
The GU is taking the issue of attendance quite seriously since it usually leads to skirmishes between the professors and students during university exams. At present, students mark their attendance on a piece of paper which is circulated in the classroom. This goes to the professor conducting the lecture who sends it to the administration department. But this system does not check proxy-filling.
However, in the new system, fingerprint impression of each student and staff member will be taken and preserved in a database. For recording the attendance, the student/staff member will be required to place his/her finger on a terminal which will compare the fingerprint recorded with the one in the database to verify its authenticity. Every month, the college administration will send the attendance records to GU.
Sources say that though the attendance system is compulsory, it is not given due importance in several colleges. “Also, if there aren’t enough students attending the lectures, even the professors get an excuse to cancel the lectures. Since colleges don’t address the attendance problem the way it ought to be, it affects college education,” says a professor seeking anonymity.
This year, the colleges have introduced choice-based credit system in which 15 marks are allocated to attendance and other activities. With the biometric system in place, the attendance of the teachers, students and staff will be automatically generated, thus aiding in regularisation of lectures.
Now that the state education department has issued a directive, increasing the minimum work hours of college teachers from five to six-and-a-half hours, the new attendance system will ensure they conform to the rules. Also, in case a student is found to be skipping lectures regularly, his/her parents will be informed about the same.
“In law colleges, students take attendance lightly after enrolment. So, we first plan to implement the biometric attendance system in law colleges. Later, science, commerce, arts and other colleges will introduce it. The guidelines regarding the new system will be sent to all the colleges shortly. They will be required to implement it within six months,” said GU VC Parimal Trivedi.
“We are in talks with several agencies for implementation of the new attendance system. Later on, we also plan to introduce it across GU departments,” added Trivedi.
Pro-vice-chancellor Mukul Shah said, “Right now, it is only medical and engineering colleges that use such advanced technology to record attendance. It is time we implement the same in colleges affiliated to GU.”