Coronavirus scare: Stop biometric attendance, say government teachers

COIMBATORE: Citing the Centre's exemption granted to its employees from punching attendance in biometric systems till March 31 until the Covid-19 scare subsides, representatives of a government school teachers association have sought the same exemption from the state government. The practice posed a risk of spreading the infection, they said.
S Arunan, president of Tamil Nadu Government Employees Teachers Association, in a petition said the Centre suspended biometric attendance system till March 31 after Covid-19 positive cases were reported in the country. "In the biometric system, as people successively touch the machine, it poses a risk. So the state should also exempt government school teachers and school education department workers from punching in their attendance in biometric systems and instead make them sign attendance in registers," he said.
Arunan said apart from schools, the biometric system was used in offices such as the district education offices and chief education offices. "We are not asking for a permanent exemption, but only till the pandemic subsides. We have sent a representation in this regard to the director of school education," he said.There are around 30,000 administrative staff of the school education department and around 5 lakh government school teachers in the state.