A new initiative has been launched to curb student absenteeism in government schools and to facilitate better monitoring of daily attendance. The Education Department has decided to implement an ‘Attendance Module’ and an ‘Alert System’ for student attendance on the e-Punjab portal (MIS 2.0). In this regard, orders have been issued to all District Education Officers by the Director General of School Education, Punjab.
According to the new system, it will be mandatory to record student attendance on the e-Punjab portal within the stipulated school hours. A key feature of this module is that as soon as a student is marked ‘Absent’ on the portal, an SMS alert will be instantly delivered to the mobile phones of their parents or guardians. School heads have been instructed to personally contact parents in cases involving students who have been absent for an extended period.
**School Heads to Serve as ‘Nodal Officers’**
To ensure the smooth functioning of this new system, the school head has been designated as the ‘Nodal Officer.’ Their primary responsibilities include ensuring that teachers record attendance on time, updating parents’ mobile numbers on the portal, and taking appropriate action regarding students who are consistently absent. According to the department, training has already been provided at the state, district, and block levels to ensure the proper implementation of this module.
The department has clarified that the Head Office will periodically review the functioning of this attendance module. If any school encounters technical difficulties in operating this system, they may immediately contact the MIS Coordinators at the block, district, or state level.
