Biometrics in Schools, Colleges & Universities: Application and Impact

Authorities of educational institutes are implementing biometric identification for several reasons. Mainly these reasons are segregated into two; one is for internal control, and another is to ensure safety and security. In recent years many unwanted incidents like a terrorist attack, vandalism, mass shootings are taking place in educational institutions worldwide, influencing us to re-think about the security measures of schools, colleges, and universities. One of the security measures educational institutions are taking is to introduce a biometric identification system. In this article will discuss the application and impact of biometrics in educational institutes:

Biometric Student Identification

Traditional ID/ paper-based student identification cannot verify the identity of the students. If any student wants to falsify their identity or tries to give a proxy for any friends, it is difficult to identify. Biometric student identification ensures the accurate student log for the followings:

• Student attendance for class
• Attendance for exams
• Library & Laboratory usage log
• Participation in seminars & Fairs
• Charges for meals
• Entry & Exit log for dormitories

Biometric Identification for Teachers & Staffs

Biometric identification can streamline the whole administrative process for teachers and students. It accelerates payroll processing by reducing chances of errors. On the other hand, it raises accountability among the teachers and staff to maintain their classes and schedules. The application of biometric identification for teachers and staffs of educational institutes are as below:

• Daily attendance
• Payroll processing
• Monitoring classes and schedules
• Special assignments
• Charges for meals

Biometric Identification for School Visitors

Managing school visitors directly relate to the safety and security of the schools. The identification of visitors/ guardians is almost impossible in a traditional paper-based system. Authority needs to rely on the information that visitor shares. Followings are the scopes where biometric visitor identification is the vital factor for security issue:

• Parents identification
• Guardian identification
• Visitor identification

Impacts of Biometric Identification in Schools, Colleges, and Universities

Biometrics identification system in schools is becoming more useful due to the limitations, inaccuracy, and security measures of traditional ID card/ paper-based methods. Besides that being a more effective tool to protect the identities of students, teachers, staffs, and visitors, biometric identification creates an impact on the management system of educational institutes as below:

Discipline

Biometric identification brings every one of the institutes under the regulation. It records perfect attendance without any scope of manipulating data. It eliminates the practice of proxy presence and the chances of mistakes that are common problems of a traditional system.

Convenience

Using biometric data, the automated school management system provides an accurate way to check-in and check-out into the system. According to the requirement, authority can use any form of biometric modalities like a fingerprint, finger vein, iris, or facial recognition.

Increases efficiency

A biometric system speeds up the identification process and eliminates the use of papers and stationery that saves time and reduces administrative expenses. On the other hand, as it raises accountability among the teachers and staff, they also provide their best service to the students and institutes.

Security and privacy

Biometric is the unique identification method that is almost impossible to forge. It restricts the unauthorized person into the premises, assuring accurate identification. The system also sends a digital badge to the authorized visitors, which allows them to access the premises is necessary.

Quality education comes with discipline. Biometrics identification in schools, colleges, and universities establish the ethical practice for attendance, check-in/ out, and so on. It also secures the premises from external security threats to the educational institutes. The seamless integration of cloud-based biometric identification enables institutes to adopt biometric identification with any of their web-based applications.