Teachers’ e-attendance dispute reaches MP HC

 

 

 

 

E-attendance has been made mandatory for teachers in Government schools in Madhya Pradesh. Teachers posted in various districts of the State have filed a petition in the High Court regarding the problems faced by the teachers.

 

A single bench of Justice MS Bhatti has directed the petitioning teachers and the government to submit affidavits. The next hearing on the matter will be held on October 30th. Mukesh Singh Varkade, a resident of Jabalpur, and 27 other teachers from various districts of the state have filed a petition challenging e-attendance.

 

Advocate Anshuman Singh, representing the petitioners, argued that teachers are facing numerous problems in recording attendance through the “Humare Shikshak App” designed for e-attendance. Many teachers do not have good smartphones.

 

There are also problems with purchasing a monthly data pack, keeping the mobile battery charged daily, and lack of network connectivity in the school. The app also faces server issues and face matching issues. Higher officials are forcing teachers to use e-attendance by threatening to withhold their salaries.

 

It was demanded that attendance be recorded either through biometric machines or in the employee register as before. The High Court directed all petitioners to file personal affidavits stating whether they had attempted to mark their attendance through the “Our Teachers App.” If so, were they unable to do so due to lack of network connectivity? The government stated that 73 percent of teachers in the state are marking their attendance through the app.

 

The court directed the government to submit records and documents in this regard. The court also asked the government to provide data on the schools where the petitioners are currently posted and on the e-attendance being recorded by other employees in those schools.