Biometric Attendance: The West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) has issued a significant directive for all private colleges offering the Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed.) course across the state. Moving forward, it is mandatory to record the attendance of both students and teaching staff through a biometric fingerprint system. The board has made it clear that failure to comply with these rules will lead to severe penalties for the institutions involved.
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The Background of Strict Regulations
The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has long emphasized maintaining high academic standards in teacher training institutes. With this objective, they issued a public notice in July 2019 mandating biometric attendance across all institutions. Later in December of that same year, the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) implemented this system in all government colleges. Now, the state primary education board is taking a similar step to bring private institutions under strict regulation.
Deadlines and Directives for Private Colleges
The new directive clearly outlines that all self-financed private D.El.Ed. colleges in the state must implement this modern system swiftly.
- Installation Timeline: Every institution is required to complete the installation of biometric attendance machines on their premises within thirty days from the issuance of the official notice.
- Who Falls Under This Rule: This mandate is not limited to students alone. All appointed teaching faculty and non-teaching staff must also register their daily presence using the biometric machine.
Monitoring and Public Transparency
To prevent any manipulation in the attendance records of students and faculty members, colleges must take additional responsibilities.
- It is now compulsory to display daily attendance records publicly on the official website of the respective college.
- To facilitate continuous monitoring by competent board officials, the website data must be updated on a weekly basis.
Consequences of Non-Compliance
The West Bengal Board of Primary Education is taking a zero-tolerance approach regarding this mandate. If any private D.El.Ed. college fails to install the biometric machines within the stipulated time or shows reluctance to follow the strict guidelines, drastic actions will be taken under Section 17 of the NCTE Act, 1993. This could ultimately result in the complete withdrawal of the college’s official recognition.
