Tarn Taran: Attendance system of Sarhali govt college gets upgrade

The small, quaint hamlet of Sarhali, on the main road of National Highway 54, is the main connecting village between the villages of Ferozepur, and border villages such as Khemkaran and Sabhra.

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The only government college in this tiny village, Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College, has been providing students of the area access to higher education.

The collage was established in 1970 by late Baba Tara Singh, the then head Kar Sewa Sect, Sarhali.

It was the need of the hour to provide higher education for youngsters of the rural area.

For girl students, it provided, and still provides, access to education close to home.

According to Principal Jasbir Singh, of the 1,300 students admitted in the academic year of 2024-25, 70 per cent were girls.

The Principal said the college management had succeeded in convincing villagers to allow their daughters to study at the college, and secure their futures.

The college has now established the ERP (enterprise resource planning) system, through which parents, Punjab School Education Board authorities and Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) — the university the Sarhali college is affiliated to — can check if students are present at the college.

For colleges, the ERP system can significantly streamline attendance tracking, offering advantages like automation, real-time data and detailed reporting.

These systems can use various methods — including ID card scanning, biometric systems and mobile apps — to capture attendance efficiently.

The data collected can then be used for analysis, communication with parents, and overall improvement of student performance.

“Each teacher has been given the responsibility to monitor 30-35 students. This ensures that students do not miss classes and parents are guaranteed proper education for their wards,” Singh said.

The college is gearing up to welcome 1,700 students in the 2025-26 academic year, introducing special programmes and courses.

Singh expressed confidence in achieving the target, stating that many youngsters from the area had been visiting the college to enquire about the admission process.

From this academic session, the college is providing open and distance learning (ODL) under GNDU for MCA, MBA, MA (Punjabi) and MA (English) courses.

The college has also started the Sant Baba Tara Singh Ji Sports Academy, which currently trains 40 students. Sportspersons here get free education and lodging.

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