Ranchi, Jan. 2: The state HRD department has prepared a list of 659 government schools in Jharkhand with power facilities to adopt Shala Darpan, an online system to maintain database of students that was launched by Union HRD minister Smriti Irani in June last year.

Under this system, every detail related to the students starting from their attendance to examination papers and study materials to medical conditions will be recorded in software for any reference.

The portal will provide a parent-teacher interface and will be available as a mobile application.

Confirming the development, Aradhana Patnaik, state HRD department secretary, said today: "We have already directed district education officers (DEOs) and block development officers (BDOs) of all 24 districts, where government high schools are located, to start preparing the database of students enrolled in schools along with their parents' mobile numbers and residential addresses so that text messages can be sent to them."

The state HRD ministry will monitor the project and keep the Union HRD ministry informed about its progress from time to time.

According to Patnaik, a series of workshops will be organised from second week of January to apprise parents, schoolteachers, principals, BDOs, DEOs and panchayat members of the project.

"We will start the workshops in various districts, which will continue till February. Thereafter, officials will start uploading the database of students and mobile numbers. We are expecting to roll out the online system from March or April," she said.

Parents will be given mobile phones if they cannot afford to buy them.

There are around 25 government high schools in Ranchi and adjoining areas having electricity. Some of them in Ranchi are Marwari Boys' High School and Marwari Girls' High School near Shaheed Chowk, Government Girls' High School in Bariatu and Amar Shaheed Thakur Vishwanath Shahdeo Plus Two Zilla School, among others.

"Smriti ji's idea will help all states implement Shala Darpan project as parents, whose wards are enrolled in government schools, do not keep track of whether they are attending schools and how they are performing academically. This will help in reducing dropouts too," Patnaik said.

Principal M. Dubey of Shaheed Chowk-based zilla school lauded the efforts of the Union minister, saying that such a system would help in dealing with school dropouts.