Ballari: The education department has introduced a face-recognition-based ‘Nirantara’ app for recording daily student attendance in govt schools in the district, marking a shift towards AI-enabled tracking.
The system, earlier used for teacher attendance, has now been extended to students. Officials said attendance in all govt and aided schools and colleges will be recorded through the app from the academic year 2026-27.
In Ballari district, there are 720 govt junior, upper primary and high schools and 76 aided schools. The department has begun implementation in govt schools in the initial phase.
Teachers have been instructed to download and register on the app. Student data is being enrolled by capturing facial images from three angles — left, right and front — for each child. The system uses face recognition technology to mark attendance and update records on the department server.
According to DDPI J M Thippeswamy, a total of 1,05,955 students from Class 1 to 10 are enrolled in govt schools in the district this year, and around 9,000 students have already been registered, and the process is ongoing. He said attendance is being recorded twice a day – in the morning and afternoon.
Officials said the app aims to curb irregular attendance and prevent students from remaining absent after admission while still being marked present. It also seeks to reduce manual workload for teachers.
However, teachers have reported technical glitches during registration in several schools, saying more time is needed for smooth implementation across institutions.
At present, the system is operational only in govt schools, with plans to extend it to aided schools in the coming phase.
