KARACHI: The Sindh government has initiated work on a mobile application aimed at digitally monitoring teachers’ and staff attendance, linking attendance records directly with the accountant general’s (AG) office, and digitising student enrolment records.

A meeting, chaired by Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah and attended by School Education Secretary Zahid Ali Abbasi and others, was held on Wednesday to discuss the digital attendance system for teachers.

During the meeting, the monitoring & evaluation wing demonstrated the mechanism for digitising attendance.

It was explained that teachers’ attendance will be recorded through the Iris Recognition System, a biometric authentication technology that identifies individuals based on the unique patterns of their irises.

In next phase, the app will be linked to AG Office to deduct absentees’ salaries

This system will be integrated into the mobile application to ensure the accuracy and security of attendance tracking.

“We are embarking on a digital journey of performance, transparency, and monitoring to ensure that resources are utilised based on facts,” the education minister told the meeting.

Furthermore, the education minister was briefed that the mobile application will be integrated with geofencing technology to ensure that teachers and staff can only mark their attendance upon arriving on the school premises.

The app will function even without internet access, as offline attendance data will be automatically updated once the internet is restored.

The meeting also clarified that teachers and staff will be able to mark their attendance by opening the app on their mobile phones and scanning their faces. Attendance will be recorded both when arriving at and leaving school.

Additionally, an option for applying for leave will be included, along with daily, weekly, and monthly attendance reports. The application will also generate reports on late arrivals, early departures, and absences.

To improve efficiency, the education minister directed that a notification system should be incorporated into the app, sending warnings to mobile phones in case of unreported absences or consistent tardiness.

The student enrolment database will also be linked to the system, integrating student records with B-Form (national identity registration) for accurate future data tracking.

Minister Shah emphasised that the application should be user-friendly, fast, and secure, allowing all employees to use it without difficulties. He also stressed the importance of cloud-based data storage for enhanced security.

In the next phase, the application will be connected to the Sindh accountant general’s office, ensuring that salaries for unapproved absences will be automatically deducted through the system.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2025