Class fingerprint scans to stop truancy

[R.A. Hettinga]

<http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;sessionid=IF0PGSNPI5OKTQFIQMGCNAGAVCBQUJVC?xml=/news/2004/12/01/ntru01.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/12/01/ixhome.html>

The Telegraph

 Class fingerprint scans to stop truancy
By David Sapsted
(Filed: 01/12/2004)

Pupils at a secondary school are being "fingerprinted" before each lesson
in a bid to combat truancy.

All 1,300 students arriving for classes at Impington Village College, near
Cambridge, have to place their fingertips on a scanner, which then
registers them as present.

 The scheme is the first of its kind in the country.

If a pupil does not check in, the system sends a text message or e-mail to
his or her parents, telling them their child is absent.

 The school telephones parents who do not have a computer or mobile phone
alerts.

The system, which uses reference points taken from each child's finger
rather than a complete fingerprint, has been supplied free on an
experimental basis by a technology company.

If the scheme is a success, it is likely to be extended to verify the
identity of examination candidates; make head counts on school trips;
control the issuing of library books and monitor access to school buildings.

A spokesman for Cambridgeshire county council said yesterday: "We are
impressed by what we have seen so far. The system has many benefits."

The technology will also be used to introduce a cashless catering system,
which will avoid the need for pupils to carry money and help to increase
security. Jacqueline Kearns, the warden of Impington Village College, said:
"We are delighted with the new fingertip recognition technology.

"It will revolutionise the way students register and will enable us and
their parents to keep track of any who are late or absent.

"Staff and students have embraced the new technology and we are looking at
ways it can improve efficiency and pupil safety."

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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
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