The School Education Department has introduced a comprehensive attendance monitoring framework for Government schools across J&K, making physical verification of students mandatory before attendance is recorded digitally and directing officials to conduct regular inspections and random checks to detect discrepancies.
As per the directives issued in this regard, the department said attendance recorded through the JK Smart Attendance application would not be accepted unless the concerned teacher had personally verified the presence of students in the classroom.
The move comes after the department received inputs indicating that attendance entries were, in certain instances, being recorded without adequate physical verification of students, raising concerns over the reliability and authenticity of digitally recorded attendance.
The new framework also makes a Class-wise Manual Attendance Register a compulsory supporting record.
Teachers will have to enter attendance twice daily, at the commencement of the school day and before departure, and authenticate the entries.
The manual record must correspond with attendance reflected in the JK Smart Attendance application.War & Conflict
Any discrepancy between the manual and digital records will have to be examined by the Head of Institution, who will record reasons for the variation and take necessary action.
The department has further placed responsibility on Heads of Institutions to furnish a monthly certificate confirming that attendance has been physically verified, manual and digital records reconciled, and no fictitious or proxy attendance recorded.
The directives also mandate inspections and random re-conciliation of attendance records by Cluster Heads, Zonal Education Officers and Chief Education Officers.
The observations are to be documented, with material discrepancies, procedural lapses or deviations reported to the concerned authorities for corrective action.
At the highest level, the Commissioner/Secretary to the Government, School Education Department, will inspect at least one school every month, while the Directors of School Education, Jammu and Kashmir, will inspect five schools each.
Chief Education Officers and Zonal Education Officers have been assigned a minimum of 10 schools every month, while Cluster Heads must inspect all schools under their clusters at least once every quarter, along with random monthly verification of attendance records.Regional News Coverage
The department has also directed that schools showing unusually high or low attendance, or extended periods of absence, be prioritised for inspection.
Significantly, the directives state that deliberate manipulation, fictitious recording, proxy marking or unauthorised alteration of attendance records, as well as discrepancies between manual and digital registers, will be treated as a serious administrative lapse and may invite disciplinary action under applicable service rules.
The department said the framework is aimed at ensuring the sanctity, authenticity and reliability of attendance records and strengthening accountability at every level of supervision in Government schools across J&K.
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