AJK Government to Launch Digital Attendance in Schools, Fill Vacant Teaching Posts

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir government has unveiled a two-part plan to strengthen school education, combining fresh recruitment against vacant teaching posts with the rollout of a digital attendance system across the region. The decisions were taken at a meeting chaired by Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Engineer Umair Naeem Advocate on Friday, where officials reviewed staffing, school monitoring and administrative reforms.

Under the recruitment plan, the education department has been directed to identify vacant positions for senior general line and science teachers, headmasters, computer instructors and subject specialists before forwarding them to the Public Service Commission. Officials will also work out the relevant quotas so that staff shortages are addressed in a structured way. Recruitment against various teaching cadres under the departmental quota is to be expedited, with both regular and ad hoc appointments made in line with existing rules.

On the technology side, the Education Management Information System (EMIS) will install its attendance application in 50 primary schools in each district within 15 days as an initial phase. The department aims to extend the system to all educational institutions across AJK by March 2027. The meeting also reviewed the status of biometric attendance devices and directed officials to make all 1,900 installed devices fully operational within seven days, while calling for the attendance application to be installed immediately in the remaining 200 schools.

The minister also raised concerns over Class IX results from the previous academic session and instructed the relevant inquiry committee to submit its recommendations without delay. The directives signal a push toward closer monitoring of school performance alongside efforts to close staffing gaps in the education system.

The combined measures reflect a broader effort to use digital tools for tracking attendance and to ensure that teaching positions are filled under established procedures. Officials are expected to report progress on both the recruitment lists and the attendance rollout in the coming weeks.