Nagaland’s SMILE app faces significant glitches

Tokavi K Zhimo
Zunheboto | February 7

A number of issues have cropped up with the SMILE app, Nagaland Government’s latest move to enhance the management system of government schools across the state. The SMILE (Smart Attendance Management and Informative Leaves) application, launched by the Directorate of School Education (DoSE) as part of the Nagaland Education Project – Lighthouse (NECTAR), is designed to improve attendance tracking and school administration. It was integrated into all government institutions in the state with the goal of marking daily attendance for teachers and staff using kiosks located at their respective schools. However, the implementation has been met with a number of issues.

While answering a survey provided by the The Morung Express to teachers and staff from government schools across Zunheboto, Tuensang, Kiphire, Mon, and Noklak, they reported widespread technical glitches in the newly implemented attendance system.

Technical Challenges and Glitches
Despite its innovative features, many educators reported issues such as slow response times, frequent crashes, and problems with registering attendance.

Senior Principal of Zunheboto Government Higher Secondary School, Kughazhe Swu raised concerns over the app's failure to register their attendance properly, with some even receiving notifications stating they are “out of school and office radius,” despite being in the building. Others have pointed out that high traffic on the portal, particularly during peak check-in and check-out times, could be a factor contributing to these issues.

One major complaint is the app's time-consuming nature, which is forcing teachers to divert time from their teaching responsibilities to troubleshoot the system. “We are spending more time into this system than to focus on our usual duties,” added Atoka, Head Teacher of GMS South Point West Zunheboto. The constant troubleshooting and the pressure to ensure attendance is marked correctly have led to frustration with some teachers feeling burdened by the need to focus on an error-prone system rather than on their students' education.

Even though many schools have high Wi-Fi connectivity, the problem persists, indicating that network issues may not be the root cause. Oketo, Geography Teacher from GHSS Zunheboto expressed the need for improvements, stating “the current system creates confusion and unnecessary stress while also affecting the overall educational experience.”

Power and Connectivity Issues
Another obstacle is inconsistent electricity supply and lack of proper infrastructure in many schools. The SMILE app relies on a stable power source and internet connectivity to function effectively. However, many schools in Nagaland are still grappling with unreliable electricity and poor network coverage, especially in rural areas. This makes it difficult, if not impossible, for teachers to use the app consistently. School located far away in a remote and outscarted location in village areas  do not have any form of power backup, which further complicates the situation when there are power outages. 

“Although the app offers an offline mode for attendance marking, this feature, the app does have an offline mode but the errors are same with the offline mode” added a Head Teacher posted in GMS Noklak. The offline mode is only effective when data can later be synced with the system, but this requires reliable internet access, which is not always available in remote schools. The ongoing challenges of power and network issues have made it difficult for the app to achieve its intended impact.

Issues with Device Recharges
The SMILE app kiosks are equipped with SIM cards that require regular recharges to function. However, teachers have reported that the recharge expenses have not been reimbursed as stated by the department. This has created an additional financial burden on teachers, who are already facing challenges with the app's technical issues. The lack of reimbursement for device recharges has added to the frustration, as many teachers have to pay out of their own pockets to keep the system operational. “Because of this Smile App many teachers are not smiling in Nagaland,” stated a teacher from Natha New GPS. 
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Potential Solutions and Concerns
The primary aim of the SMILE app is to modernize school management, offering a technological solution to long-standing issues like absenteeism and proxy attendance. The app uses face recognition, time stamping, and geo-fencing to ensure accurate and authentic attendance tracking. The goal is to eliminate irregularities in attendance marking ensure that staff are present and accounted for, thus improving overall school administration.

However, its current state suggests that the system is not yet fully optimized to address the practical needs of teachers and staff.
One official from the Education Department and involved in the SMILE app suggested that the app needs to be reviewed and modified to address the glitches and technical issues that have hindered its smooth operation. “Our office device is not able to function properly so we have left it just like that,” she said. 

In addition to issues with its current implementation in schools, some officials have proposed that the SMILE app should be extended to other government departments to streamline attendance management across the state. While this could create a more unified system for tracking attendance, the Head Teacher from GPS Tuensang cautioned that the current state of the app’s functionality may not support such an expansion without significant updates and fixes.

Many educators have voiced their opinion that until the app is properly optimised, it should not be rolled out to other departments. The issues faced in schools need to be addressed first before the system is further expanded, as introducing more users to an unreliable system could exacerbate the existing problems.

Another teacher, Abel stated that the Department of School Education (DoSE) and the Nagaland Education Project – Lighthouse (NECTAR) must take immediate steps to address these issues and ensure that the app functions as intended operation. “Since it is in an initial stage, the department may be delay in resolving all the issue; but I hope the issue is resolved at the earliest,” stated Abel who has been teaching for more than 15 years. “Teachers deserve a system that allows them to focus on their primary responsibilities without the added burden of dealing with unreliable technology.”