Prince Khalid Al Faisal.

The Education Ministry is installing a state-of-the-art electronic system to monitor the performance of its 525,000 teachers at 34,000 public schools across the country.

IT firms are in the process of setting up a giant modernized system which would allow the ministry to monitor the attendance and punctuality of teachers and deduct money from their salaries without having to wait for a report from principals, a source said.

The ministry would record the biometric data of teachers as part of the system. The ministry has accelerated its program to install high-speed Internet at all schools around the country, to help instill discipline among teachers and boost learning.

The source confirmed that the ministry had signed contracts with leading IT firms to install the system. The network would help teachers use modern techniques, and improve communication between the ministry, its offices and schools.

The ministry announced in April that it would install the biometric system at schools to monitor attendance of its employees, both teachers and administrators, who are affiliated to 45 education departments.

The ministry specified last month that it would ensure the implementation of the system in three stages over two years. It would first cover the new headquarters of the ministry and all education departments, and then all schools in the final stage.

 
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