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Illustration: Venu

L.N. Revathy

Remember those heady college days when one tried to keep both parents and teachers in the dark…

And proxy attendance was something that students used to boast about. If for some reason a student failed to have the attendance record in order, he could pay a fine or hoped to tip the peon and straighten things out.

But all that could become history now, with universities and institutions opting for electronic sign sheets.

Consolidated Cybernetics has, for instance, introduced the ‘Smart Campus’ mobile alert to sound parents on their ward’s attendance details in campus.

The company has tied up with various institutions to provide this service. Most campuses are local area network (LAN)-enabled, some even Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) enabled.

Each lecturer, therefore, inputs the students’ attendance details immediately after the session. The systems administrator captures the details and generates the report.

Since the students’ data — including address, parents’ mobile number/contact number and address, last studied institution and so on — is captured at the time of admission and an enrolment number generated thereon, when the daily and weekly attendance report is generated, the system automatically picks up the alert and cautions parents about their wards’ inconsistent presence and performance before it is too late, explains Rangaswamy.

Earlier, institutions would do a manual check and send out reports to parents once every quarter.

“The difference now is — the ward has no time to collect the letter from the postman and quietly destroy it. Even before he reaches home, his parents get the alert on their mobile. They are given a chance to rectify the issue before it is too late,” says Rangaswamy with a grin.

He contends that the Smart Campus service helps institutions save 50 to 60 per cent of the sums spent as courier or postage expense.

“Imagine the postage and stationery expense, apart from the manual effort involved in writing/typing the contents. Now, the message is communicated instantly. Since the content is saved on a template, it saves time and effort involved in keying the text.”

“And this electronic tracking is not all about attendance only, but a surveillance of the student’s movement within the campus. It is basically an identification system.

Some campuses have multiple identification, such as hostel identification, library card, lab card and personal ID among others. Why so many cards, when one can do with just one, argues Rangaswamy.

The company has designed a biometric card.

“The candidate’s details are embedded in it. When he/she swipes it, be it at a library, hostel, mess, store or lab, his/her entry is registered. The candidate can also top up the balance in the card and use it as a debit card within the campus. Since it is a biometric card, it cannot be misused,” he says.

lnr@thehindu.co.in

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