The Maharashtra School Education Department is set to phase out traditional physical attendance registers and introduce a chatbot-based system for recording student presence. Under this initiative, teachers will soon be able to mark attendance digitally, streamlining the process and improving efficiency.
Currently, teachers have to manually prepare the annual register with sections for months and dates. They have to write down students’ names as per their role numbers and mark them as present or absent in these physical registers on a daily basis and then tally it all at the month’s end, to maintain the attendance record. “This process is time-consuming and requires extensive record-keeping. Now, under the Vidya Samiksha Kendra initiative, a chatbot will facilitate real-time attendance tracking through a live dashboard,” said Sachindra Pratap Singh, state education commissioner.
Old app, new purpose
To access this new system, teachers will need to download the mobile application ‘SwiftChat’ linked to Vidya Samiksha Kendra, which will enable them to feed in student attendance. Instead of marking every student’s presence manually in a register, teachers will only need to record absentees. The system will later integrate with government portals such as Saral and UDISE+ to maintain students’ academic and attendance records.
“This chatbot simplifies school record-keeping by digitising key parameters like midday meal tracking, student attendance, and more. No more physical registers… just mark students absent with a tap, eliminating manual logs and ensuring seamless data management,” Singh said.
This initiative follows the central government’s broader efforts to digitise the school education processes. Previously, the SwiftChat chatbot under the Vidya Samiksha Kendra was used to record scores for foundational and consolidated assessments. In some cases, biometric-based attendance was also experimented with. However, that did not work as expected. Now, teachers will mark attendance directly via the app, eliminating the need for biometric devices or physical attendance registers.
A senior official from the school education department, speaking anonymously, stated that the government is expanding the chatbot’s features to include daily attendance marking under the section ‘Smart Attendance’ on SwiftChat. “Each student’s Aadhaar ID and school UDISE number will be linked to this system for authentication. The process will be secured via OTP verification, ensuring accurate record-keeping.
All platforms integrated
The integration of attendance with existing educational platforms aims to streamline operations while minimising additional burdens on teachers. However, successful implementation will depend on smooth adoption and continuous feedback from educators,” the official said.
Clarifying concerns regarding the logistics of the new attendance system, the extent of workload reduction for teachers, and potential risks related to student data security, SCERT Chairman Rahul Rekhawar reassured that all security and privacy aspects of student data are being strictly safeguarded.
“The attendance data will be monitored by the education department through multiple channels to ensure transparency and accuracy,” Rekhawar stated.
He further emphasised that the new system aims to eliminate paperwork and physical attendance registers, making the process more efficient. “Only absent students need to be marked online, which significantly reduces the time required compared to the current manual system,” he explained. Additionally, the attendance data will be directly linked to the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, thereby preventing duplication of data entry across different government programs. With this digital transition, monthly and annual reports can be generated automatically, eliminating the need for manual record-keeping.
Familiarity with app
Addressing concerns about teachers with basic mobile phones who may struggle to use the app, Rekhawar clarified, “The data recording process can be efficiently managed at the school level, as almost all government schools and teachers are already using SwiftChat under the Vidya Samiksha Kendra initiative. Teachers have been using this application for data entry related to the Comprehensive Assessment Test-1 (CAT-1) and Periodic Assessment Test-1 (PAT-1). Now, the same application will be utilised for marking attendance, ensuring familiarity and ease of use.”
Mixed reactions
While the government views this initiative as a means to reduce teachers’ workload, educators have raised concerns about its effectiveness. Some argue that despite the digital transformation, they will still need to manually verify each student’s presence before updating the chatbot.
“If we still have to manually verify attendance, how is our workload being reduced? What happens if there are technical glitches?” questioned a teacher from a well-known school in Dadar.
The teacher further added, “Teachers are already burdened with numerous non-academic responsibilities such as election duties, census work, and other administrative tasks in the past few years. In recent years, an increasing number of data entry tasks have been imposed on us. The workload of teachers will only be truly reduced if these additional non-academic responsibilities are removed, allowing us to focus solely on teaching-related activities.”
Others emphasized the importance of long-term record-keeping and suggested that cloud-based storage for attendance records would be a beneficial addition.
“It is encouraging to see the Maharashtra government, in coordination with the central government, leveraging technology-driven solutions to modernise education administration. However, the success of the chatbot-based attendance system will depend on its implementation and the feedback from educators in the coming months. If the government believes that merely eliminating physical attendance registers will significantly reduce teachers’ workload, they need to reconsider. There are several aspects that require attention to truly free up teachers’ time for improving and innovating teaching methodologies. Nowadays, teachers are increasingly engaged in non-academic and administrative work,” said another teacher from a civic-run school in South Mumbai.
‘SwiftChat’
App that will enable attendance record-keeping
