Scientific headcount in schools from this year

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: From this year onwards, the annual exercise to determine the total number of students in aided and government schools across the state will be made foolproof by employing modern techniques such as fingerprint and retina scanning to check foul play.The conventional headcount to determine the total number of students in schools across the state was held on Tuesday. The date of verification is kept a secret to avoid manipulation of student strength by school managements.The records collected through the headcount are crosschecked through a single day verification by the officials of the General Education Department at a later date. This year scientific examinations for verifying the identity of students, including fingerprint and retina scanning, will be held after July 15 once the single day verification is completed.Under the Kerala Education Rules, the exact student strength is submitted to the Education Department on the sixth working day of the new school year. Teachers and headmasters take the actual headcount and match it with the school records. Statistics collected through the single day verification is the basis for sanctioning various posts in schools.Last year, the headcount had been controversial owing to a High Court Division Bench order directing the police to take headcount of the actual student strength in aided schools, instead of verification by Education Department officials.