Nagapattinam teachers request time to adapt to mobile app-based attendance registers

The teachers' associations in Nagapattinam have requested that registration of attendance using the mobile app not be made compulsory until the teachers get smartphones and required training. A mobile app named 'TNSchools' was introduced in August 2018 to register attendance of students in schools and to replace the traditional methods of registering in notebooks. 

The app method of attendance registration has been made compulsory this week in Nagapattinam to start registering the names of students in the mobile. However, the teachers' associations have requested not to make the technological methods compulsory. "There are still many teachers who are not accustomed to the usage of smartphone and are still using basic mobiles. Many of the aging teachers have not become tech-savvy yet. They require basic training to even download the app," said K Balashanmugam, a teacher-representative from Tamil Nadu Primary School Teachers Association

The school education department has issued a circular to the school headmasters in Nagapattinam stating that those who do not start registering the attendance of students in the mobile app by Monday Morning (January 7) 11 am would be recommended to be noticed by the State Project Director of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. The teachers' associations have called the move too hasty. The state representative of Thamizhaga Aasiriyargal Kootani V Annamalai said, "The teachers should be given adequate training using workshops conducted by the department to adapt to the technology and in the usage of such apps". 

The teachers association stated that the usage of the app is required more in rural areas of the district which is still recovering from the damages of the cyclone. The teachers added that the move by the department to insist that the teachers buy a compatible mobile which costs over 5000 and also spend extra money on internet charges is unfair. The officials from the School Education Department refused to comment on the issue.