Edu dept begins attendance verification drive, vows strict action on irregularities

The state education department is verifying student attendance across schools for transparency, with completion by December 15, impacting future school recognition.

In a move to tighten transparency and accuracy in records, the state education department on Saturday announced that a special team is conducting verification of student attendance across all schools simultaneously.

Any irregularities found in student data will lead to strict disciplinary action against the responsible authorities, warned primary education director Sharad Gosavi and secondary education director Mahesh Palkar. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

The verification and correction process must be completed by December 15.

Any irregularities found in student data will lead to strict disciplinary action against the responsible authorities, warned primary education director Sharad Gosavi and secondary education director Mahesh Palkar.

From the academic year 2025-26, the process of sanctioning school recognition will be based entirely on the information entered by headmasters in the UDISE+ (U-DISE Plus) system. Headmasters have already entered student details through their UDISE+ login, and this data will now directly impact recognition and administration.

“The responsibility of verifying the authenticity and accuracy of the data submitted by headmasters has been assigned to cluster heads and group education officers. Cluster heads are required to thoroughly verify the data of all students enrolled in the schools under their jurisdiction. This includes ensuring that only genuine students are listed and numbers have not been intentionally inflated to secure teacher or non-teaching staff posts,” said Palkar.

The education directors have emphasised that this verification drive is crucial to maintaining transparency in school administration.