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Bunking students are somewhat of a problem for school administration. But they even more so for the parents who want to ensure that their kids should go to school and not bunk classes. Now, t-shirts with special radio frequency chips embedded in them can ensure that parents are informed if, and when, their kids bunk classes.

The chips works in a way so that whenever  a student enters the school, the parents are sent a message confirming the student’s presence. And so, when the chip is not registered with the system at school, the parents know that the kid didn’t reach the school.

This system has so far been implemented with some students from Vitoria da Conquista’s 213 public schools. According to the education secretary of the city, Coriolano Moraes, with the help of these uniforms, schools as well as parents will be able to tackle the issues of bunking and non-attendance. The aim of the city is to implement the system with all 43,000 public school students in the city.

However, the system will be implemented only with students aged from 4 to 14 years old. According to Moreas, ‘We noticed that many parents would bring their children to school but would not see if they actually entered the building because they always left in a hurry to get to work on time. They would always be surprised when told of the number times their children skipped class.’

In this way, now when a student bunks the class, the parents will be sure to know about it and they can no longer conjure the excuse of ‘lack of knowledge’ of the absence. Moreover, if a students registers three absences, the parents will be asked about it and they will have to produce a valid reason for it. If parents can not provide a substantial reason, city’s authorities will be involved in this case.

The city has so far invested a total of $670,000 for the design, test and manufacturing of the t-shirt. An interesting fact about the chip is that when it is placed on a student’s uniform, the uniform can be washed as well as ironed without fear of damaging the shirt. Also, the chips are said to have a security system ‘that makes tampering virtually impossible.’

Image courtesy Bond009.

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