THE current teachers’ biometric atten-dance system in schools has unfortunately become a prime example of how a well-intentioned digital reform can be undermined by flawed implementation. By relying on mobile monitoring teams that visit schools only once a month, the Sindh Education and Literacy Department has created a snapshot model of account-ability that rewards manipulation and penalises genuine professionalism.

The primary issue with this mobile approach is its susceptibility to selective monitoring. It is a known concern that these visits are often poorly timed or strategically coordinated, allowing those with ‘local connections’ to maintain a pristine attendance record.

When monitoring becomes a periodic event rather than a daily automated process, it invites a ‘tip-off culture’ where absentee staff members are alerted in time to mark their presence, while others may even receive preferential treatment through off-site data collection.

Meanwhile, the system remains cruelly indifferent to the truly committed educators who begin their commute early in the morning, and undertake lengthy, often arduous, journeys to reach their schools every day. Under this once-a-month regime, if such a teacher has a genuine domestic emergency or transport delay on that one specific day when the team pays a visit, consistent professional behaviour means nothing.

The relevant authorities should replace these ceremonial and inconsistent monthly visits with a permanent, automated solution. Every school should be equipped with a fixed biometric device linked to a central server for daily entry and exit logging.

Monitoring teams should then shift their role to becoming unannounced auditors, verifying physical headcounts against the machine’s real-time data. We need a system where accountability is a daily standard, not a monthly occurrence that is dictated by proximity or influence.

Fouzia Baz Muhammad
Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2026