Guwahati: The Assam State Primary Teachers’ Association has urged the Samagra Shiksha-Assam to stop teachers from using personal smartphones to mark attendance on the Shiksha Setu portal, saying the practice could allow them to register attendance without entering school campuses and potentially skip classes.At a meeting with Samagra Shiksha-Assam officials on Wednesday, the association demanded that attendance be marked only through govt-provided tablets kept in schools.“Attendance should be marked on the Shiksha Setu app using tablets provided by the state govt to schools. If teachers can mark attendance through the app on their personal smartphones, some may do so from outside the campus without attending classes,” the association’s president Ratul Chandra Goswami said.The association’s principal secretary, Sailendra Kalita, said officials had assured the association in a meeting that its proposal would be examined.The association also sought a review of technical issues, including some teachers opening and closing WhatsApp whenever they wished, and called for greater transparency in recording teachers’ non-academic duties. It said the meeting agreed that details of such assignments across the state would now be available on the Shiksha Setu portal.Several other issues discussed at the meeting included completing the distribution of school uniforms by Dec, revising the instalment-based release of infrastructure funds and submitting a proposal by SSA to govt in order to extend the Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACPS) to contractual teachers.The association also urged govt to release 90% of the Contributory Provident Fund dues for teachers regularised under the Special Recruitment Drive (SRD), covering their tenure with Samagra Shiksha-Assam. Other demands included medical leave provisions for all teachers, solar power facilities in every primary school and the release of Rs 25,000 to schools that secured an A+ grade in Gunotsav 2024-25.The meeting also addressed financial shortfalls faced by schools because mid-day meal funds are calculated on the basis of attendance recorded on the Shiksha Setu e-portal. The association said an agreement had been reached to clear the outstanding mid-day meal dues.
