In a strong push to enforce accountability and transparency within the education system, the Department of School Education, Nagaland has notified strict monitoring of employee attendance following the rollout of the Smart Attendance Management & Informative Leaves (SMILE) app—also known as the Teacher Attendance Monitoring System (TAMS).
Developed under the World Bank-supported NECTAR project, the SMILE app leverages facial recognition and geo-fencing technology to ensure accurate and location-specific attendance. These features ensure that teachers and staff record their attendance only within the premises of their respective schools or educational establishments.
Since its official launch on February 1, 2025, the SMILE app has been made compulsory for all employees under the School Education Department, including teachers, administrative staff, and field officers, with tablets provided to each institution to function as attendance kiosks.
Recognising Nagaland’s connectivity challenges in remote areas, the app has been equipped with offline attendance functionality. This enables users in low or no-network zones to mark attendance, with data stored for up to 30 days and automatically synced when internet becomes available. The application also includes an attendance regularisation feature, allowing users to submit correction requests for missed attendance due to official duties or technical issues.
1,500+ employees fail to mark attendance
Despite major technical improvements and performance optimisations made in the months following the initial rollout, the Department has flagged serious compliance issues. From February 1 to June 30, out of a total of 2,002 schools and establishments (data as of 1-7-2025), 132 schools and 5 establishments achieved attendance above 80%. However, it has been observed that 27 schools have not marked any attendance, and 1,525 teachers and employees have not marked attendance even once during the same period.
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The number of schools and establishments with below 50% attendance is 1,071. It has also been observed that many employees have attempted to mark their attendance using methods that fall under “suspicious” category.
In light of these findings, the Department has issued a strong reminder that attendance is being actively monitored. Strict disciplinary action will be initiated against defaulting employees and institutions. Heads of institutions have been directed to enforce daily usage of the SMILE app and ensure compliance. In areas where there is no internet connectivity, SMILE app Coordinators have been asked to take the kiosk tablet to a networked area every 30 days.
The Department has urged users to contact helpline numbers 8974102488 or 6909644519 for prompt assistance.
