Daijiworld Media Network – Puttur

Puttur, Jul 18: Ensuring the safety of school children, Arun Kumar, an alumnus of the Kombettu government high school in Puttur, has developed a 'super biometric' attendance system that sends an instant message to parents' mobile phones as soon as their children reach the campus. His innovation has garnered national recognition, a cash prize from the state government, and widespread appreciation from the education department.

The system is designed to alert parents if children skip classes after leaving home for school. Attendance is recorded through a combination of a camera and a biometric system, which immediately triggers a message alert to the parents. The fact that a government school student has developed such an advanced system has drawn appreciation from all quarters.

The system has already been introduced at the Kombettu government high school. Arun Kumar developed the technology under the guidance of Kombettu PU College vice principal Vasantha Moolya and teachers Ashlesh Kumar and Shashi Kumar. Arun Kumar, son of Vinod Kumar and Rajeshwari from Boluvaru, is currently pursuing his higher education at Nitte College.

Explaining the project, Arun Kumar said, "Information for this technology was obtained through the Atal Tinkering Lab. It uses a Raspberry Pi 5 processor and cost around Rs 15,000 to build. A retina scanner has been installed to prevent cheating using photographs. The system was inaugurated by MLA Ashok Kumar Rai on June 23, 2025. The technology was developed by gathering information and resources from social media."

Commenting on its implementation, the vice principal of Kombettu school said, "The technology has been implemented on a trial basis at the school for the last six months. It is yet to be rolled out completely. Once all the parents' mobile numbers are linked, it will record facial features and send messages automatically. The education department had invited the student three months ago to gather detailed information about the project."