The Department of Education in South Waziristan Lower has taken a decisive step towards accountability by introducing biometric attendance in schools across the district. An official directive has been issued to both male and female District Education Officers (DEOs), mandating the installation of biometric systems in all government schools under the Education Management Information System.
The newly deployed biometric attendance in schools will use facial recognition and fingerprint verification, requiring teachers to mark attendance twice daily—once in the morning and again at the end of the day. The initiative targets the long-standing issue of teacher absenteeism and aims to establish a transparent, efficient system for monitoring school staff attendance.
According to officials, the biometric attendance in schools will also cross-verify teachers’ identities with their national ID records. The reform has been introduced following growing demands from political figures and civil society, who have consistently highlighted the negative impact of unmonitored staff absences on education quality in the region. A local education rights activist welcomed the move, calling it a long-overdue reform for restoring accountability and improving educational outcomes.
