Hyderabad: The JNTU has made biometric attendance mandatory for all UG students of constituent and affiliated colleges. According to rules, students who do not record 70 per cent attendance in an academic year would not be eligible to avail scholarships.
The main motive was to ensure transparency in the system and had been ordered by the Chancellor of Telangana State Universities, according to an official circular of the university.
JNTU had implemented biometric attendance for faculty and post-graduate students on January 9, 2017, at its affiliated colleges.
The managements and principals of affiliated colleges were directed to upload details of their UG students in the affiliation portal before December 1. The colleges were instructed to provide Aadhaar number, name and date of birth of the student and a clear scanned copy of the Aadhaar card.
Prof. Yadaiah Yadav, JNTU registrar, said the government had proposed that the university sign an MoU with the Telangana State Technology Services to supply biometric scanners to colleges on rent. “We will soon enter into the MoU and finalise the implementation of biometric attendance.” It would be helpful in controlling malpractices in the attendance system, he said.
Not everyone seemed happy. Mr Goutham Rao from the Telangana Engineering College Management Association asked why only JNTU was implementing biometric attendance when the Chancellor wanted all state universities to implement the system.
Dr Srini Bhupalam, president of the All India Federation of Self-Financing Technical Institutes, said that tough measures may not help. “For the past half a century, we have tried many initiatives to improve the quality of graduating students. Most of the initiatives have failed due to the stick approach rather than the carrot, i.e., motivation. The current generation of teenagers are intelligent, independent and prone to questioning authority. The metaphorical stick does not always work with them.”
He said Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors needed to evaluate new policies and regulations. “If this is not done, they will be forced to withdraw it,” he said adding he was convinced that students should be encouraged to make good choices through a clear system of motivation and rewards to attend class and labs rather than the biometric attendance system.
