P G DANDIN
As per our education system, especially higher education, it is compulsory for all students to have minimum of 75% attendance to qualify for the final examination. This percentage is a total of the periods, lectures taken by the teachers during a particular semester.
Attendance can be mapped in a variety of ways. Call out is the oldest and most popular method used in schools and colleges. Here, roll numbers of each student are called out by each teacher during the day and unanswered numbers are marked absent.
Some teachers circulate an attendance sheet among the students who then sign in their name during each lecture period. This system is common in post graduate classes or professional courses.
The third is an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification system) which offers a complete student attendance monitoring solution. Here students carry an RFID based ID-card with them when in the school/college premises which then logs their attendance. The card is shown to the reader device and the RFID reader identifies the student.
Some colleges have now even implemented a biometric system where all a student has to do is punch-in or flash his/her ID card or record the fingerprint in front of the device. Once the attendance is marked, the captured data gets stored in the student attendance management system from where anyone having rights can view the attendance details.
The purpose of all these systems is to save valuable time of the teachers in taking/marking attendance which can then be utilized towards improving students’ outcome.
Furthermore, the institute can trigger automated SMS, email or app notifications to parents or guardians, informing them about the presence or absence of their ward. Notifying parents ensures that all the stakeholders are well-informed about student’s whereabouts.
At the same time, the institute can see the graph and instantly identify if the attendance is increasing or decreasing or is almost the same of a particular class or division or student.
Based on the results of the analysis, the principal or management can then make timely decisions, and even check whether the corrective measures are effective or not. This helps to constantly monitor student performance and improve student outcomes.
But why do students
remain absent?
The most common reason for absenteeism is a lack of interest in the course due to forced admission by the parents and a lack of interest in the subject due to nature of subject. Another common reason is boring teaching styles.
Crowded classrooms, problem of language, lack of a healthy environment, i.e. improper seating, non-existent/broken fans, dirty classrooms, lack of control over the class which leads to disturbance, traffic noise if the institute is by the road side.
Inadequate transport facility between home and school, peer pressure, fear of punishment for non-completion of homework, lack of concentration due to problems at home, fear of being targeting by fellow-students/faculty, wide gap between lectures due to subject combinations, especially in Arts stream are some of the other reasons for absenteeism.
Yet other reasons include teaching by new and unexperienced faculty, exam-oriented teaching instead of knowledge and life-oriented, outside attractions like malls, multiplexes, girl/boyfriends, involvement in anti-social activities, abnormal causes like major accident, chronic disease, loneliness, etc.
No doubt there is a link between attendance and progress of the student. Regular bunking is not a good sign which affects grasping of missed syllabus afterwards. Therefore joint efforts are needed to minimize the problem of absenteeism of students in educational institutions.
(The writer is associate professor in commerce, GVM’s College of Commerce and Economics Farmagudi-Ponda and has penned down his thoughts based on 32 years experience in the field of higher education)
How to encourage attendance
n Link attendance with grade
n Keep parents regularly in the loop
n Develop a friendly atmosphere in the institution
n Add curricular and co-curricular activities to overcome boredom
n Introduce e-Education, artistic subjects
n Biometric attendance
n Rewarding most regular student/s with suitable scheme
n Organizing cultural programmes and functions after regular lectures
n Inculcate NCC, NSS and sports meets which teaches about discipline and value of time
n Practical/field visits based on subjects
n Counseling by experts on regular base
n Organise guest lectures from experts in industry
