Bhubaneswar: In a bid to digitally monitor attendance in colleges, the Odisha Higher Education Department has introduced a Student Biometric Attendance System.
Officials said that a pilot project has been launched in ten higher education institutions in the first phase.
The biometric attendance project be implemented through the Higher Education Management Information System (HIMS). Under the system, students’ attendance will be digitally recorded and verified using GPS location and live photographs, officials said.
The initiative is particularly significant for students availing benefits under the KG to PG Free Education Scheme, for whom a minimum attendance of 75 per cent is mandatory.
The pilot project will help the department assess the functioning of the system and gather feedback from participating institutions.
Based on the experience and feedback obtained from the pilot phase, the system will be further strengthened before being rolled out across other eligible higher education institutions in the state.