In a groundbreaking move, the Transparency-Edu application is working towards transforming the education sector in Cameroon by promoting transparency, accountability, and accessibility in schools.
By Dorcas Ekupe in Cameroon
Launched in 2021, this innovative tool has quickly gained popularity among educational institutions seeking to monitor student attendance more effectively. A growing number of educational institutions are now adopting it to check if students are present in school or not.
The App Developer, Sako Rickson said it was his younger brother’s delinquency that inspired him to create the software programme. He disclosed that was his younger brother was frequently skipping classes to play video games.
“What motivated me was a problem I faced. In a Discussion with my cousin, he informed me that he saw my junior brother playing video games outside of school on a school day.
“My cousin added that this was not the first time he was seeing my younger playing video games. I was so shocked when my cousin told me that he sees my younger often playing out of school.
“And at the end of the year he failed his exams.
We could not know that most of the times he dodges classes to go and play because we did not have any means of detecting his whereabouts. I immediately felt that it must be the same hurdle for many parents.
“Trying to help my brother and other students in the community, I came up with the biometric finger print system connected to the app”, Sako Rickson, the App Developer said.
Apart from tracking the location of students, Transparency-Edu now has other components that are benefitting both school officials and parents.
“We added things like results sheets knowing that when you write your examinations, parents will know if the results are positive or not. Also, when parents are called up in school, even if the students do not tell them, through the app they will be aware that their presence is needed in school”, Sako explains.
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The app is said to be user-friendly app and has several schools now embracing its usefulness. They have reported significant improvements.
“There has been a positive impact with this application. But when there is no electricity and network, it does not work. When we have electricity and good internet, it helps us track students.
“This application that we have been using for a few years has been more of a blessing than a curse,” the Principal of the Secondary Section of the Pinnacle of Success Academy in Yaounde, Nialonge Ewoko explained.
A good number of parents in this school have installed the application.
“Normally every parent or guardian is suppose to have the app but some parents have installed it while others have not. Those who have it have praised Transparency-Edu and as it helps them know whether their children are in school or not,” Ewoko adds.
Schools using Transparency-Edu have observed improvements in both student attendance and academic performance, as students are more cautious about skipping classes, knowing their parents will be notified.
The Developers of the app say they hope to bring the application to Northern Cameroon particularly the Adamawa region where kidnapping for ramson is rampant.
According to them, Transparency-Edu can help reduce kidnappings as it can track the position of people.
