By Our Correspondent
BHUBNESWAR:This year, the state government has decided to implement the biometric system for compulsory attendance of students in higher educational institutions of the state. It has issued a notification to implement it in ten higher educational institutions on an experimental basis.
This unjust decision has been strongly opposed by the All India Democratic Students Organization (AIDSO), and the organization’s state president Somnath Behera and editor Siddhartha Rath have issued a press statement, calling this decision of the government completely unjust and anti-student education and demanding that the government immediately withdraw it.
The press release said that higher education in our state has completely collapsed. Thousands of faculty and teaching staff posts are lying vacant. Multiple problems like fee hike, conversion of various general courses into self-financing courses, shortage of necessary infrastructure, classrooms and hostels, disorganization of libraries and laboratories, unexpected reduction in education budget and research grants have further compounded the problem.
Without taking any steps to solve these problems, biometric system has been introduced in higher educational institutions to record the attendance of students, which is highly condemnable. According to the guidelines issued by the government a few days ago to provide free education from KG to PG, the government will not provide grant to students who do not have 75 percent attendance.
Due to various reasons, 75 percent attendance of students is often not possible. On the other hand, the government will provide grant in installments under this scheme, it has been mentioned in the guidelines. As a result, many grant-aided, non-granted and block grant colleges will be closed due to lack of funds for maintenance and guest faculty. Therefore, the real purpose of biometrics is not to provide grants to educational institutions under the KG to PG Free Education Scheme.
This is another plan to implement the recommendations of NEP-2020. If the government is really thinking about the future of government education and the students of the state, then it is necessary to improve the infrastructure in educational institutions, especially the necessary classrooms, adequate hostel facilities for students, recruitment of the required number of teachers, elimination of irregularities in libraries and laboratories and provide necessary grants.
Instead of doing this, the government has decided to spend crores of rupees from the exchequer and implement the attendance system through biometric machines for the benefit of many domestic and foreign companies, but this decision will actually fill the pockets of various companies. The government should immediately withdraw this biometric attendance system and take steps to strengthen the educational infrastructure in higher educational institutions in the state. Otherwise, AIDSO has warned that a strong student movement will be organized.
