Mumbai: In Maharashtra, the quintessential attendance register — an integral part of every school classroom — will soon be a thing of the past.
The state government has developed a mobile application to digitally record the attendance of students as well as teachers and keep a tab on absenteeism in government schools at the convenience of a click. The app, MahaStudent, is available on Google Play Store for schools to download.
“The Centre has come up with a Performance Grading Index system. In this, there are some points for enabling schools to record the attendance of teachers and students online. That’s how the state government decided to develop the MahaStudent app,” said a state school education department official who did not wish to be named.
“If any student is bunking school, teachers can record the absenteeism with just a few easy clicks. This way, teachers will not need to maintain a separate attendance register. Besides, their own attendance record will also be maintained on the app,” he added.
The Performance Grading Index system, first introduced by the Union education ministry in 2019, evaluates the performance of states in school education across various parameters such as enrolment ratio, governance and management, learning outcomes, and so on.
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‘State can keep tab on students and teachers bunking school’
The Maharashtra government already has a digital platform where information about all schools, appointment of teachers, and enrolment of students is maintained.
“There is a huge emphasis on digital schools and adoption of technology by teachers under the Pragat Shaikshanik (Progressive Learning) Maharashtra Programme. The MahaStudent app takes this a step forward,” said the state government official.
Maintaining an online attendance register through the app also means that the state government can keep a tab on students and teachers bunking school, the official said.
Moreover, the state government has also enabled MahaStudent to be able to record data under the Mid-day Meal Scheme, he added.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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