ALAPPUZHA: An attendance tracking application Alappuzha district panchayat introduced last year to trace students who cut classes has turned out to be a success, prompting it to continue the project at least 44 schools this academic year as well.
According to K.T. Mathew, chairman of the standing committee on education of the district panchayat, as many as 150 students who tried to bunk classes were turned back last academic year with the service of the app. The application was launched in November with the support of Kerala State Industrial Enterprises, the police and the excise department. It was introduced in 46 schools under the district panchayat.
S. Vijayakumar, chief Coordinator of the project, said that after registering the attendance with application in the morning, it will be vetted by a special team deployed at the school. A list of students who skipped the class will be prepared and then shared through the application. At first, it will be examined by school authorities and then handed over to the police. The police would then follow it up with the help of cyber cell, narcotic cell and women's cell to trace the students.
Class teachers can generate an automatic SMS through dedicated computer system in the school using the app to police station and to cell phones of the parents.
If anybody found connected to drug abuse, counselling facilities will be made available to them. A special awareness campaign launched for parents in this regard', he said.
Mr Vijayakumar said that the systematic tracking will reduce the tendency of students to skip school and save them from getting trapped by various anti-social elements.
