HYDERABAD: The move of Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education (TSBIE) to introduce biometric attendance monitoring system at government junior colleges has sparked a row with lecturers objecting to the decision. According to the lecturers, the decision to make attendance mandatory would lead to sharp rise in drop-out rates as a sizable number of the rural students toil in the agricultural fields to meet their educational needs.
Strict implementation of attendance norms will force these students to discontinue education, they said.
As per the existing norms, it is mandatory to have at least 75 per cent attendance to appear for the public exam. However, the government colleges in rural and semi-urban areas always register low attendance rate, due to socio-economic reasons.
Expressing concern over the move to impose attendance norms, lecturers said that it will force rural students to drop-out. The biometric system will mark the student absent, even if he arrives late for the classes. Students and teachers are up in arms against the move, saying such hard and fast rules would not make sense in rural areas where transportation and infrastructure facilities are poor.
While the Intermediate Board is set to issue tenders for installing CCTV cameras and bio-metric machines in colleges, the faculty have submitted a memorandum to the Intermediate Board in this regard. Madhusudhan Reddy, president, Government Junior Colleges Lecturers Association (GJLA), said, “Instead of monitoring the attendance, the government should improve the infrastructure in these colleges and fill the vacant teaching posts.”
Out of the 402 junior colleges in Telangana, 252 have no computers and internet facility while 52 colleges don’t have electricity. Around 75 colleges are still functioning in rented buildings. The principal post in 200 colleges and 325 of the sanctioned teaching posts are yet to be filled.