‘Fingerprint’ in public schools will start next year

Delayed due to the tendering procedures

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 15: The fingerprint system in public schools will be implemented in academic year 2019/2020, not the second semester of this year, reports Al-Jarida daily quoting sources.

This comes at a time the Ministry of Education is seeking to complete the tender for the supply, installation, operation and maintenance of fingerprint devices in public schools; through which the electronic attendance system will be applied to its employees including the teachers and administrative staff.

Sources attributed the delayed implementation to the tendering procedures. They explained the drafts were sent to the Fatwa and Legislation Department which approved the terms of the contract with some amendments. The ministry then forwarded the contract to the Central Tenders Committee (CTC) and State Audit Bureau (SAB) to obtain pre-approval for the tender before offering it to competent companies, sources said.

Sources pointed out these procedures require six to eight months;

hence, the signing of the contract with the company that will win the tender will either be April or May next year. Sources disclosed the contract requires the winning company to install the devices within three months, which means the implementation will be in July when schools are closed for the summer vacation.