Prayagraj: The UP Board’s ambitious initiative to digitise attendance in affiliated schools has failed to gain traction even a year after its launch, with most institutions yet to adopt the system regularly.A review of attendance records from over 29,000 affiliated schools revealed patchy compliance despite repeated directives from the board. Officials attributed the poor response largely to inadequate monitoring and follow-up by district inspectors of schools (DIOS).Data reviewed on July 8 showed that in 20 districts, fewer than 5% of schools were uploading the attendance of students, teachers and non-teaching staff through the online platform.Even Prayagraj, home to the UP Board headquarters, has not fared much better. Of its 1,103 affiliated schools, only 85 (7.71%) were found to be regularly uploading attendance on the portal.A similar trend was observed in the other four districts hosting the board’s regional offices. Meerut recorded the highest compliance among them, with 66 of 411 schools (16.06%) using the digital attendance system. It was followed by Varanasi, where only 34 of 403 schools (8.44%) were uploading attendance records.Bareilly reported compliance from just 26 of its 459 schools (5.66%), while Gorakhpur recorded 27 of 512 schools (5.27%).The system performed even worse in several other districts. Fewer than 5% of affiliated schools uploaded attendance in Badaun, Kanpur Nagar, Deoria, Siddharthnagar, Hardoi, Hamirpur, Amroha, Mainpuri, Sultanpur, Azamgarh, Hathras, Ambedkar Nagar, Bhadohi, Kanpur Dehat, Amethi, Etah, Gonda, Agra, Auraiya and Kaushambi.At the other end of the spectrum, Hapur topped the state with 31.36% of affiliated schools using the online attendance platform, followed by Rampur (21.52%) and Baghpat (18.71%).UP Board secretary Bhagwati Singh said all DIOS had been directed to ensure that every affiliated school marked attendance through the digital platform on a daily basis.“Principals are required to upload attendance through the UP Board portal or the UPMSP-Attendance mobile application using institution-specific login credentials. Attendance can be marked only from the school campus, and reasons for absence must also be recorded,” Singh said.The digital attendance system was rolled out on July 1, 2025, covering students of Classes 9 to 12, teachers and non-teaching staff in all UP Board-affiliated schools.
