Bhubaneswar, Aug 26: The Odisha government is set to introduce a biometric attendance system through the Higher Education Management Information System (HIMS) to digitally record and verify student attendance in higher educational institutions across the state.

The move has been initiated particularly for beneficiaries of the ‘Jnanodaya – Shiksha Ru Samruddhi’ scheme, under which students are required to maintain a minimum 75% class attendance.

The pilot project began on August 25, with the system being introduced initially in 10 higher educational institutions. During the pilot phase, student registration, biometric data collection, attendance recording and integration of attendance data with HIMS will be carried out. Based on the experience and feedback from the pilot, the system is expected to be expanded to eligible colleges across Odisha.

10 Institutions Selected for Pilot Project

The biometric attendance system will initially be implemented at:​​​​​​​

1. MPC Autonomous College, Mayurbhanj
2. Vikram Dev University, Jeypore
3. Utkal University, Vani Vihar
4. Model Degree College, Boudh
5. Government Degree College, Tentulikhunti
6. Udayanath Autonomous College, Adaspur
7. B.J.B. Autonomous College, Bhubaneswar
8. Kantabanji Vocational Degree College, Balangir
9. Bhadrak Autonomous College, Bhadrak
10. Prananath Autonomous College, Khordha

Attendance cannot be marked from outside campus

The HIMS mobile application will use geo-tagging and GPS-based location verification to ensure that attendance is recorded from within the college campus.

The employee's mobile GPS location must fall within the designated geographical boundary of the college for attendance to be registered. Taking a live photograph will also be mandatory while recording attendance.

Teachers to record student attendance

Under the proposed system, teachers will first record their own self-attendance. They will then access Academics → Attendance on the HIMS app, select the relevant class and mark students as Present (P) or Absent (A).

Teachers will also have to capture a live photograph of the class and submit the attendance through the application.

The pilot project will be evaluated based on the experiences and feedback received from the participating institutions. Necessary improvements and modifications will be made before the system is stabilised and eventually rolled out across other eligible higher educational institutions in Odisha.