KOCHI: Smart students, smart teachers and smart parents made a school smart. Government Girls Higher Secondary School here will be the first school to use a mobile application that will help parents track their ward’s way back home. Using the app, parents will be able to know the real-time location of their child on a virtual map with the help of a microchip attached to the identity cards of the students.
The project was launched by Gatik School Management System (Gatik -SMS), a subsidiary of Bengaluru based ‘Gatik Group of Companies’. MLA Hibi Eden inaugurated the project and it is expected go functional from next week.
“The project was recommended by the MLA and the school implemented it with the permission of the Parents Teachers Association. The devices needed for the same have been kept ready at school and will be installed in the coming days. There will be no compulsion on the students from the school and the parents can enrol their children if they wish to,” said Nalinikumari, principal. Meanwhile, Gatik-SMS will offer this facility free of charge. Gatik Group of Companies chairman C Arunkumar, CBSE Kerala president T P M Ibrahim Khan and the school principal were present during the inaugural function.
Only students using the school bus need to enrol in the transport management system called ‘Here I Am’. They will be will be provided with a special identity card with a microchip. At the same time, parents can install an app provided by Gatik - SMS on their smartphone and connect it with their ward’s ID card. They will then be able to trace the location of their child while he or she returns from the school with a single click on their phone.
“At first, the route of the school bus to different locations will be determined. The information about the students boarding the school bus will be entered into a computer system automatically and the parents will be able to start tracking their wards till they reach home. The tracking is done through satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS). Wearing an identity card that has a microchip will not cause any health problems since these chips are radiation free,” said Bhinu, a representative of Gatik-SMS.
Besides transport management, the app will also send exam schedules, progress report and will help parents fix appointments with the principal easily. “Our server is located in Bengaluru and all the data collected for the project will be kept confidential,” he said.
‘Gatik Group of Companies’, is a multi-million dollar enterprise with interests in different domains. Founded in 2006 by a group of young entrepreneurs, they aim to bring positive changes in lives and wish to shape the future using the technology. The company now provides Broadband Services (G- Ion), Automation Technology Products (Greenergy), Software Products (Gatik - Soft) and Digital Marketing Services (Gatik - DMS) .
The students were very much interested in the project. “Since we are not allowed to bring mobile phones to the school, we were unable to contact our parents in case we became late due to traffic blocks. Now we can breath easy,” they quoted.