Attendance of students to be recorded via mobile app

With the admission process in Delhi University now being conducted only online, the mechanism for marking and tracking of attendance of students is also set to go online as well.

For this purpose, the varsity is set to launch a mobile application this academic session to maintain accountability and transparency in attendance. Last year, DU had set up a seven-member committee to work on the attendance application.

"The project has been going on for around six months now and the app is expected to be launched anytime. This will help teachers keep a tab on daily class strength and show the percentage of attendance to help them inform the students about the shortage in advance," a senior DU official said.

Till now, teachers have recorded attendance on a register and some colleges – such as Hindu College, Zakir Husain College, Miranda House and IP College for Women – update the attendance on their websites on a monthly-basis. But after the app is launched, teachers will update the attendance on the app on a daily basis.

"Attendance is the biggest problem in university, especially at the time of issuance of admits cards for exams. Students always come up with complaints that teachers have not maintained accurate attendance sheets," the official added.

The app will be centralised for all departments and faculty members of 68 colleges affiliated to the University. "The objective is to avoid the panic among students during exams, as DU does not allow students with less than 66 per cent attendance to appear for exams," the official said.

Students have welcomed the move as they believe digitisation of attendance will do justice to them.

"At times, it happens that the attendance is not marked despite being a regular student. Introducing an app for marking regular attendance will make work much easier," said second year student Nidhi Mittal.

However, Delhi University Teachers' Association has raised questions over the app. "Through the application, any faculty can be easily track down by the administration and it is simply a breach of privacy of faculty," said C S Rawat, vice-president, DUTA.