SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir School Education Department has tightened attendance monitoring in government schools, making physical verification of students mandatory before attendance is entered digitally and ordering surprise inspections and regular reconciliation of attendance records.
The directions were issued through Circular No. 09-JK(Edu) of 2026 by Commissioner/Secretary to the Government, School Education Department, Ram Niwas Sharma, IAS.
Under the new framework, teachers must physically confirm the presence of every student in the classroom before uploading attendance on the JK Smart Attendance application. Digital attendance cannot be recorded without such verification.
Schools have also been directed to maintain class-wise manual attendance registers and record students’ attendance twice a day — at the start of the school day and before departure. The registers must be authenticated by the concerned teachers and reconciled with the digital attendance records.
Any mismatch between manual and digital records will have to be examined by the Head of the Institution, who must record the reasons and take corrective measures.
Heads of Institutions have been made responsible for ensuring the accuracy and credibility of attendance records. They have also been directed to carry out surprise checks of both manual and digital attendance.
Under the circular, Heads of Institutions must provide monthly certification confirming that students’ attendance was physically verified, manual and digital records were reconciled, and no fictitious or proxy attendance was recorded.
Cluster Heads, Zonal Education Officers and Chief Education Officers have been directed to conduct regular and surprise inspections, including random reconciliation of attendance records and verification of actual classroom strength against the manual and digital records.
Schools reporting unusually low attendance, prolonged 100 per cent attendance or other abnormal patterns will be prioritised for inspection.
The department has also prescribed minimum monthly inspection targets. The Commissioner/Secretary to the Government will inspect at least one school every month, while the Directors of School Education, Jammu and Kashmir, will inspect five schools each. Chief Education Officers and Zonal Education Officers will inspect at least 10 schools every month within their respective jurisdictions.
Cluster Heads have been directed to cover every school in their respective clusters at least once every quarter, besides carrying out random monthly verification of attendance records.
Attendance verification will also form part of all academic, administrative and supervisory inspections conducted by competent authorities. Inspecting officers will check students’ physical presence, consistency between manual and digital attendance, teaching staff attendance through the JK Attendance application, classroom teaching and learning activities, and the punctuality and regularity of teachers and students.
The Directors of School Education, Jammu and Kashmir, have been asked to compile monthly compliance reports detailing inspections, deficiencies, remedial measures and compliance status and submit them to the Administrative Department by the seventh day of the following month.
The department has warned that deliberate manipulation of attendance, fictitious or proxy marking, unauthorised uploading of attendance and significant discrepancies between manual and digital records will be treated as serious administrative lapses and may lead to disciplinary action under applicable service rules.
The framework covers all Government Schools, PM SHRI Schools, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, Residential Schools and Model Schools across Jammu and Kashmir.
The department has directed all concerned authorities to ensure strict implementation of the instructions.
