Accordingly, the QR code in the smart card would store all the information about the teacher and information could also be obtained from the common database through the education management system.

A senior official from the School Education Department said that at present there are about 2.25 lakh teachers working in government schools and around 76,361 teachers are working in government aided schools. All the teachers from the elementary level to higher secondary level would get smart cards, which would contain all the information including the attendance of the teachers.

Stating that the government has allocated Rs 1.17 crore for smart card facility, the official said that the card would be equipped with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) scanner and a microchip.

The official pointed out that RFID scanners would be installed at all the entry and exit point in the school. “When a teacher enters or leaves the school, the scanners will store the time and other details. This information will be shared with the school management and teacher’s common data base,” he added.

“The smart card project will be implemented in this academic year itself. It will be distributed to all the teachers this by the end of this calendar year,” the official said.

He said Tamil Nadu Text Book and Educational Services Corporation, which has been entrusted to implement the smart card project for teachers, would be appointing an agency to print smart cards shortly. The appointed company would collect all the details of the students to print the smart cards, which cannot be duplicated.

He said at present, a total of 37,358 government’s primary, middle, high and higher secondary schools are functioning in the State. In addition, 8,386 government aided schools are also functioning.