“It’s a deterrent without muscle,” is how Christy Healy, school principal of Coláiste an Chraoibhín in Fermoy, describes the biometric palm scanner he’s considering introducing in the school to deal with abseentism.

Stressing that he hasn’t yet made up his mind whether or not to introduce the technology, he told The Avondhu that he’d sought tenders for it as he was seeking tenders anyway for classroom furniture for the school’s two new classrooms and decided to check it out. “I just wanted to investigate it,” he says.

Palm-scanning technology uses unique vein patterns as a handy ID system. The principal says he’s been told they don’t contravene data protection laws.

A number of other schools in Ireland already use them. He has been in contact with some of those that do and has been told that they work well. He intends speaking to others who use them before making his mind up on whether or not to proceed.

It’s not that truancy is a big problem in the school, the principal stresses. In fact, he says, their attendance levels are very good. Department of Education inspectors who visit the school regularly though discuss with principles ways of continually improving attendance.To that end he’s looked at other means of recording school attendance such as a swipe card.

USING TECHNOLOGY

“The problem with that is that there’s a replacement cost if the student loses their card, so that’s not very satisfactory,” he said. He didn’t like the thumb print system as it’s too close to finger printing and also because it doesn’t work properly if there is oil or other material on the thumb.

Parents want to be informed if their child hasn’t turned up for school on a morning, the principal believes. “The reality is that many parents have to leave for work early and have to rely on the child getting themselves ready and out to school. They have no way of knowing that they have done so unless we let them know,” he explains. He believes parents would be concerned about the safety of their children if they are not in school when they are supposed to be, as they would be worried about where they are, what they are up to and who they are with.

The palm scanner would automatically generate a text message to advise a parent the student hasn’t turned up for school. “It won’t replace our roll,” the principal says. The school already operates a manual texting system to advise parents if a child hasn’t turned up and follow up with calls to parents if required. Ideally the school should be notified in advance if a student is going to be absent for a specific reason. Unnotified absences are also required to be certified subsequently by having parents write a note in the student’s journal.

Since word that he’s considering the move got out, the principal says, he’s had a number of calls from the national media. That surprised him, given that the technology is in use in a number of Irish schools already. One journalist decided not to pursue the story when he checked and found out for himself that was the case.

Meanwhile the principal summed up his position by saying “Technology is changing all the time. Nothing has been decided yet, we’ll see.”