Teachers threaten strike against biometric workforce management system in India

Teachers in government schools in Andhra Pradesh have threatened to strike against the proposed move by state government to introduce a biometric attendance system as a means of workforce management for teaching and non-teaching staff, the Times of India reports.

Under the proposed plan, staff will be required to swipe their fingerprints and will replace the existing manual attendance system in schools. Once implemented, teachers will be required to spend at least six hours teaching at the school.

According to the Times report, the government has decided to introduce this attendance system after reports surfaced suggesting some teachers are working part-time jobs or taking private tuitions by skipping class. Teachers have not taken lightly to the new system and this issue has become a major bone of contention between the teaching community and the state.

“Over 1,00,000 teachers in 6,000 state-run high schools are up in arms against the “monitoring system”. Teachers’ associations have written to the government to improve facilities before caring to check their attendance. They also threatened to go on state-wide strike if the proposed move was not withdrawn immediately.

Teachers say the state government should focus on improving basic amenities including drinking water and toilet facilities in schools instead of introducing the high-tech attendance system which might cost up to USD $300 million (Rs 30 crore),” the report continues.

As reported previously in BiometricUpdate.com, in 2012, The Indian Ministry of Education turned to the Institute of Technology Guwahati to help find a suitable biometric workforce management solution to monitor the staff at learning institutions.

Biometric attendance and workforce management systems have recently been installed at government schools and colleges in Karachi, Pakistan.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  education  |  identification  |  workforce management