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Prerna app has more pluses than minuses, says UP’s basic education minister
Prerna app requires principals to click three selfies a day to prove their presence in UP government-run schools.
While a section of primary school teachers has opposed the Prerna app that requires principals to click three selfies a day to prove their presence in UP government-run schools, basic education minister Satish Dwivedi has said this “revolutionary app” has the potential to change the face of the basic education department in the state.
On his first day in office, the minister said, “It has many advantages. Once our teachers get used to this technology, many of the paper work that takes up their valuable time will come to an end. The basic education department will be able to prepare a complete data bank of students and can track missing students if somebody stops coming to school for a period of time.”
The minister said there may be some deficiencies, but those can be addressed gradually and separately.
“We are open to all kinds of suggestions and will try to fix problems that confront teachers. We all want the condition of primary and upper primary schools (classes 1-8) to improve so that more and more students complete their free elementary and compulsory education between 6 and 14 years,” Dwivedi said.
When it came to a change, there were both positive and negative aspects of it, he said. Many teachers accepted the Prerna app gladly, but still there were others who were opposing it, he said.
A woman teacher in one of the three blocks where it was rolled out as a pilot project said the department was in a great hurry to launch the app despite several shortcomings. The project has been rolled out in one block each of Lucknow, Kanpur and Barabanki districts.
“That is why such an attendance system was not adopted in any other department. The whole idea behind launching this app is that the department does not trust its own teachers. It projects teachers as criminals. Hence, there are frequent protests and teachers’ unions are writing letters.”
She alleged the app was about to be launched even before it was tested properly. On installing the app, phones were developing snags, she said.
“Everyone is worried about their privacy. Women teachers believe that these apps are not safe and taking selfies is more likely to cause problems,” she said.
“Owing to constant updates of the app, it can’t be installed in many of the Chinese mobile phones that are much cheaper. Frequently, Chinese phone hang. Also, many of these 156,000 (1.56 lakh) schools are located in remote areas of Uttar Pradesh where network connectivity is an issue,” she said.
Akansha Saxena, master trainer of UP government schools based in Gautam Buddh Nagar, said the app will give a platform to showcase the work of hardworking teachers in UP governments schools as their efforts otherwise do not come to notice.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath will formally launch the Prerna app at a function to be held on the Teacher’s Day eve on September 4.
