The education department has taken disciplinary action against a teacher who attended online attendance while ‘sitting inside her car at Baikunthpur Block in Gopalganj District of Bihar.’ Renu Kumari was issued a show-cause notice, asking her to reply officially within two days. If her response is not satisfactory, further action will be initiated.
This raised eyebrows among other teachers, after which DEO Yogesh Kumar took formal cognizance of the matter. As per the new instructions from the education department, all the teachers have been directed to mark their daily attendance through the e-ShikshaKosh app.
The system puts the onus of recording a selfie inside the school premises for tagging the attendance of teachers. However, in September, several occasions were noted when Renu Kumari marked her attendance from her vehicle, which was later proved through an investigation by higher officials.
DEO Yogesh Kumar has directed the school’s headmaster to seek a detailed explanation from Kumari and submit it to the DEO’s office within two days. The photos attached to the notice showed that she had marked her attendance while in her car on September 9, 10, 13, 14, 23, 24, 27, and October 2.
This has highlighted an emerging issue within the education department because initial reports mentioned that such practices have occurred in other teachers. More than 700 teachers reportedly lost a day’s salary because of discrepancies in attendance since the attendance system went into operation in May, the reports said, putting more scrutiny on compliance with the new regulations.
