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Biometrics rollout to boost teachers’ accountability, not punish them – Min. Parag
(Kaieteur News) – Minister of Education, Sonia Parag on Wednesday explained that the biometrics attendance system the ministry is introducing in schools is not a punishment measure for teachers, but rather to ensure accountability and better results.
The minister made the disclosure while responding to APNU’s Member of Parliament, Ganesh Mahipaul during the consideration of budget estimates.
A teacher from St. Stanislaus College using the biometric system.
“It is not punitive measure. It is to ensure that we have that accountability. It is to ensure that we have better results and children are taught, and it is to ensure that we are transforming digitally as well. So it’s several things in one and we have to appreciate because every time something pops up on social media of maybe a couple students not doing well enough, or a batch of students not doing well enough, you go back to the education sector and you say, well, we’ve been plugging this, we have been plugging this. Why is this not happening? So it is to ensure that we have that kind of result,” she explained.
Mahipaul who noted that it is a “good system” since it will remove the paperwork of signing in and signing out of teachers, had questioned the minister whether the schools will have to purchase the equipment from their school grants since it would be depriving them of purchasing their usual academic materials.
Minister of Education, Sonia Parag (right).
According to Parag, biometrics already exists in some of the schools and these were purchased by the schools after consultation “without any fuss.” “However, there is no there is no force, or there is no pressure on teachers to purchase the biometrics from their grants,” she confirmed.
The minister added that sometimes schools will put their grants to buy appliances, but in the event that they do not want to do that, the ministry will supplement.
Following up, Mahipaul asked if there is a standardised biometric system that schools are to purchase.
The minister stated that the ministry put the specifications to the schools, and from that they can purchase the system. “..but it is a system that has to be compatible with the Education Management Information System (EMIS) as well. So, it is purchased or it is an understanding that when you’re purchasing that it must be compatible with EMIS system, which necessarily would have its own specs that you will have,” she related.
Kaieteur News understands that secondary schools like St. Stanislaus College, and St. Rose’s High School have the biometric system in place for both teaching and auxiliary staff.
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