GUWAHATI, March 25 � For the affluent section who does it for fun and the poor who have to do it out of compulsion, bunking classes could no longer be a light-hearted option.
For, schools authorities in Assam will soon be armed with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system that would monitor the movement of the students using the RFID card that would also be linked with the Google earth network, besides the mother server.
The tracking system requires students to wear identification badges embedded with radio frequency chips.
With the use of this card, parents and school authorities (optional) will get instant information about the card holders� entry and exit timing from the school via SMS.
Par Technology, an IT firm, which has started its operation for the first time in the region, is now doing a survey of the schools beginning from Guwahati making the school authorities aware of the availability of RFID system, besides its benefits.
�Once the school agrees, we would install the system in the school premises free-of-cost. The school authority concerned, however, would have to assure that the system is maintained in the prescribed way,� informed Amarjyoti Bharali, a Guwahati-based official of Par Technology while talking to this reporter. He also confirmed that there cannot be any proxy use of RFID card either, as the system is also capable of detecting that.
For the system to operate, the school would need to have a wi-fi or broadband system installed.
Bharali further informed that the subscription fee of the card would be around Rs 600 for a period of three years, of which Rs 500 is refundable.
�May be the system can be used on trial and error basis at first and then could be replicated, if required. The system, I feel, should be optional as there would be people who would not like their ward to be tracked,� a senior administrative member of a city-based school who does not want to be named said.
Another section feels that if the Government can take care of the cost, schools in remote areas with high drop-out rates could be equipped with the system for proper monitoring.
�Even a programme like Sarva Siksha Abhijan could be benefited,� they felt.
