Identity cards for students in government schools anywhere in the State might seem incongruous, but students of a few schools in the city will soon have them with their details encrypted in a data chip.
Students from 15 government schools in Himayatnagar will be issued Radio Frequency Identity cards, as a solution to myriad problems associated with the functioning of the schools and dropout ratios, on a pilot basis.
Pilot project
It will be replicated for other schools too based on the pilot’s success. In the existing system, there is no way to keep track of the children dropping out of mainstream education once they are out of the Residential Special Training Centres (RSTCs) or Non-Residential Special Training Centres (NRSTCs).
RSTCs and NRSTCs are run as bridge schools to train the dropouts and join them in the mainstream schools in the relevant class.
However, there have been instances of students dropping out a second and a third time, and being admitted back in the RSTCs and NRSTCs, resulting in duplication of work by them, officials from the district administration informed.
Data to be uploaded
“We have undertaken a project to collect and computerise data including the details of students, teachers, and infrastructural facilities existing in each school. The data will be uploaded on to our website. Issuance of RFIDs is part of the bigger project,” said the District Education Officer A. Subba Reddy.
Students will be taught to carry the identity cards and produce them wherever needed, so that their educational progress may be monitored even after they quit one school and take admission in another.
"If the child is not joined anywhere, he or she will be understood as a dropout and action will be taken to bring him or her back to school, Mr. Reddy informed.
ID cards will be issued to students from RSTCs, NRSTCs, and Madrassas too apart from the regular schools.
These are also to be used to keep a check on the attendance and mid-day meals.
Students from 15 government schools in Himayatnagar will be issued Radio Frequency Identity cards
