Now, keep a track of your child through cellphones

PUNE: After seeing them off to school,parents need not worry about their kids constantly. With several schools in the city introducing the Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) system in students' I-cards, parents can track the movement of their wards through mobile phones.Among the schools that have introducedthe technology are the English medium schools run by Jog Educational Trust(JETS). JETS's RFID system enables efficient tracking of everystudent's activities -- such as their arrival and departure at the school -- byscanning the ID card. "The application will use long-range radiofrequency to read the photo ID cards of the children as they pass throughdoorways or the main gate of the school. The R-fi' reader would detect thesignal and automatically send alerts to parents -- say about the child's arrivaland departure from the school premises -- on their mobile phones through aninbuilt automated notification system, says Amol Jog, director of JETSinstitute.Jog says apart from the in and out information, the schoolmanagement can also update parents about what is happening in the school,special instructions and emergency notices. The automatic attendancesystem save teachers' time. During the yearly review of a student's discipline,this can help the teacher record the exact time.Speaking to ToI, Jogsays the system has been approved by the Wireless Planning & Coordination(WPC) wing of the Ministry of Communication. The WPC has assigned the 865-867MHz UHF band for radio frequency identification devices. AnuradhaBhandarkar, a parent, says the idea of RFID is worth giving a try. This facilitywill enable us (parents) to keep track of various activities taking place in theschool, children's progress and development along with keeping a strongvigilance over our wards, even while we are at work or on themove.Another parent, Vidyalaxmi Girgaonkar, says, "I'm happy withthis new technology.""The New Apostolic English High School, Nagpur,Jog Educational Schools, Pune, Jain Bharti Model School, New Delhi, VishalBharti Public School, New Delhi, Vidyadhan Education Society, Pune and ChateGroup of Schools, Pune, are some of the schools that have signed up for thesystem", says Jog.