Dear Editor,
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s introduction of an e-attendance system in degree colleges is a useful step towards improving accountability. Parents will receive SMS alerts about students’ attendance, while the initiative forms part of the province’s wider effort to digitize higher education.
However, educational reform should not stop at knowing whether a student entered the classroom.
A student may attend every lecture and still graduate without the skills employers require. Universities and colleges need systems that monitor not only attendance but also learning outcomes, practical skills, internships, graduate employment and student feedback.
The timing is important. University leaders in Sindh were recently urged to align education more closely with technology, research and changing industry needs. Pakistan’s challenge is therefore not simply bringing students into classrooms; it is ensuring that those classrooms prepare them for the world outside.
Digital systems can help. Institutions could use them to identify struggling students, connect learners with career counselling, record practical training and gather feedback on courses. But technology should serve better education rather than become evidence of reform by itself.
Knowing that a student attended 90 percent of classes tells us very little if we never ask what that student learned or whether that learning created opportunity.
Zooha Indhar