Sindh to launch facial attendance system in educational institutions

Karachi: The Sindh School Education Department has finalized preparations for the introduction of the Facial Recognition Attendance Monitoring and Evaluation System, known as FRAMES, in government schools throughout the province. The trial phase of the system will officially commence on August 17 in six districts of Sindh. Each district chosen for the pilot phase represents a division within the province, which includes Karachi East, Hyderabad, Naushehro Feroze, Jacobabad, Ghotki, and Umerkot.

During this initial stage, the attendance of 49,565 teaching and non-teaching staff members will be monitored via FRAMES. Sindh's Education Minister, Syed Sardar Ali Shah, announced that the system would initially function as a pilot initiative in these six districts. Upon evaluating the results and experiences from the pilot phase, the system will be progressively rolled out to all districts in Sindh.

According to Shah, FRAMES is not just an attendance system, but an effective tool to ensure students have access to their teachers. He added that the application is designed to be user-friendly, with a mechanism in place to identify, monitor, and resolve any potential technical issues in a timely manner. Attendance will be recorded using facial recognition technology, eliminating the need for teachers to have personal mobile phones.

They can mark their attendance using the headmaster's or a colleague's mobile phone. Attendance can also be recorded even in the absence of internet connection, with the data automatically updating once connectivity is restored.