Classrooms to be fitted with AI face-recognition to track student attendance in India
The southern Indian state of Karnataka plans to use facial recognition to record school attendance, triggering strong opposition from child rights groups and educators. The system is expected to cover more than 52,000 schools and 525,000 pupils.
The system would operate through a new mobile app linked to the government’s Students Achievement Tracking System, which already stores pupil data. Authorities say it will also verify recipients of welfare programmes like the free midday meal scheme.
The government claims the technology will protect privacy by encrypting each image and converting it into a non-reversible identification code.
Critics dispute this, warning that facial data could still be misused, hacked, or exploited. A coalition of 31 organisations has written to the chief minister urging the project’s cancellation, calling it unsafe and unnecessary. They argue that schools should be protected spaces, not sites of surveillance.
Activists also point to the risk of sexual exploitation through deepfake tools that use facial images. They say existing School Development and Monitoring Committees can ensure accountability without tracking students’ faces.
Publication: The Independent
Writer: Alisha Rahaman Sarkar