SMS alerts to parents will make school harder to bunk for KV kids

NEW DELHI: Bunking school will soon become difficult for students as the parents will be able to track online whether their kids have attended classes or not.

NEW DELHI: Bunking school will soon become difficult for students as the parents will be able to track online whether their kids have attended classes or not.

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Officials said the move is part of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan’s efforts to help parents to keep abreast of their wards’ activities — from attendance, homework, class test results, and health records, examination schedule, among others. Across the country, more than 12 lakh students study in 1,100-odd KVs run by the central government.

The KV Sangathan has already started sending out login and password information to parents to access the online platform named ‘Shaala Darpan’ and can be accessed at https://darpan.kvs.gov.in/shaaladarpan/.

The SMS information is likely to roll out next month across all KVs, sources said.

Bunking classes by students, especially those in the higher classes, is a major problem faced by most educational institutions though there is no data available on the number of youngsters who leave home but skip classes.

“There were a few complaints that children used to bunk school on some pretext or the other. Parents in many cases were clueless and many used to get information (only) during their interaction with teachers. This platform will provide greater transparency,” said a senior official of the KV Sangathan.

The official said parents will also get an SMS in the morning if the student fails to attend school that day soon.

The KVs are among the better-managed government schools and have been faring better than private schools in Class 12 examinations over the past few years.

Though the scheme was announced last year, it is being implemented now, the official said, adding the scheme is for students of Class 1 to 12.

Officials said they are also making efforts to provide e-tutorials to students using the website. Data digitisation of both students and teachers has already been completed.

Officials said the initiative will encourage parents to opt for government-run schools rather than private schools as all the activities of the institution will be on the public domain.