Govt must focus on hiring teachers, improving facilities: Mayawati

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati stated on Tuesday that quality education in government schools will be ensured not just by digital attendance systems but by recruiting an adequate number of teachers and providing basic facilities in the schools.

In a post in Hindi on X, she alleged that the digital attendance system for teachers was imposed hastily without proper preparation by the BJP-led state government. The newly launched system is being opposed by the teachers.

"Due to the acute lack of essential basic facilities in government schools of Uttar Pradesh, complaints of their poor conditions have been common. Instead of making appropriate budgetary provisions to properly address these serious issues, the government is merely engaging in superficial actions to divert attention from them. Is this appropriate?," Mayawati said in the post.

She added that "the digital attendance system for teachers seems to be another new step by the government that has been imposed hastily without proper preparation".

"What is much more important is the proper and adequate recruitment of teachers along with the development of basic facilities to ensure high-quality education," the BSP chief said.

In a statement issued in June, the Yogi Adityanath government announced plans to digitise all 12 types of registers in schools across the state, along with implementing a digital attendance system for both teachers and students.

According to the statement, both students and teachers will be required to mark their attendance using a face recognition system on tablets. This process was set to be implemented statewide starting July 15, it said.