A total of 181 digitalized attendance machines, better known as biometric attendance machine are lying unused in the nationalized primary schools in Shailkupa upazila of Jhenaidah district. These modern attendance machines were purchased against at about Taka 40 lakh four years back. As the machines could not be inaugurated officially, a number of the same already went out of order and the regular attendance of the minor learners and teachers could not be ensured in years after years.
When this correspondent visited a number of government primary schools in Shailkupa upazila in Jhenaidah, the teachers and school management committee (SMC) presidents said they were compelled to purchase the biometric attendance machine between Taka 18 thousand and 25 thousand at an emergency basis as directed by the upazila primary education officials before closing the educational institutions before the closure due to global havoc corona virus. They had spent the money from their regular maintenance fund titled as School Level Improvement Plan (SLIP). Ignoring all necessary maintenance work of the schools, they purchased the same from any specific company at a “compatibly higher” prices.
When the schools were reopened after a long closure, they had urged upon the upazila primary education officials to inaugurate the machines for proper attendance of both learners and teachers. But it is yet to get response from the said office when about four years went in the past. A number of the machines went out of order for “no maintenances” work for a long. Upazila primary education officer (UPEO) in Shailkupa Israil Hossain when contacted said the opinion of the head teachers was not completely true as they could not inaugurate the same as the installation of “Dash-board” for proper maintenance of biometric attendance machine. The activities are continuing, UPEO Israil Hossain informed.
