Beep! Your child just stepped out of the school

Beep! Your child just stepped out of the school

Parents to get text message from Chembur’s Ryan International School on whereabouts of students; chip in ID card to make swiping unnecessary

Nazia.Sayed and Dipti Sonawala mirrorfeedback@indiatimes.com 

    Ryan International School, Chembur, has the dream technology for paranoid parents. Every time students step in or out, a smart identity card will record their movement and send a text message to parents about their whereabouts. The child need not even swipe the card manually for this to happen. 
    After a student from Ryan International in Malad was kidnapped for a couple of hours a month ago, parents have had the jitters. This is why the school authorities decided to spend close to Rs 25 million to soothe their nerves. 
    A teacher, not wishing to be named, explained how the system will work. “The identity card works like a swipe card at offices but students do not need to swipe it manually on the machines. As long as they are wearing it, their movement gets detected when they walk through the school entrance. 
    “The exact time of entry and exit is recorded and this information is sent to the parents through an SMS,” she said. 
    Parents are heaving a sigh of relief with this development. Salim Khan, parent of a Std VII student, said, “This is a good move. The school has always taken the lead in matters of security for our kids. We were a little worried after we heard of a recent case of abduction.” 
    A month ago, an eight-year-old student of a Ryan International School, Malad, was kidnapped. The abductor called the boy’s mother and demanded a ransom. 
    However, after two hours the boy was dropped off near his residence as the kidnappers developed cold feet because of the cops being called in. 
    But are the children happy being kept on a leash? A student of Std VII, Kiran Chopra, did not seem to object to the new technology. “I’m glad I don’t have to tell my parent what time I left school as they get the information on their cell phones.” 
    He added, “It is not necessary to wear the ID card around my neck. I can even keep it in my bag and it still gets detected by the machine.” 
    Rajesh Banerjee, one of the directors of Pinnacle Tele Services, which set the system up, confirmed the development. “I am happy to say that it is a big success. This project was designed three years ago but we had some challenges at the time.” 
    School authorities were not available for confirmation despite repeated attempts.

The chip, which has been inserted into every identity card, will keep track of each student’s movements