West Bengal to pilot AI facial recognition for school attendance
The state government has selected 100 schools to test an automated system that uses a mobile application to identify students.
The West Bengal School Education Department plans to implement an AI-powered facial recognition system to record student attendance in government and government-aided schools, according to Mathrubhumi.
A pilot phase involving 100 schools will begin once schools reopen after the Puja vacation. If the trial is successful, the department aims to roll out the technology across the state in January next year.
Under the new system, teachers will use a mobile app to take a photograph of the class. The application will then use AI to match faces against a pre-existing database of student identification details to identify who is present or absent.
The department intends to use the collected data to track student regularity and monitor absenteeism. This digital method is expected to save time for teachers, particularly in large classrooms where calling out names and using manual registers is currently required.
The initial testing in 100 schools will allow the department to evaluate the effectiveness of the technology before the planned statewide expansion.
