[photopress:thumbprint_scanner.jpg,full,alignright]The China Daily reported a Chinese college has introduced fingerprint scanners to stop students playing truant. Meiya College of International Studies at Hunan University spent RMB250,000 yuan ($32,000) last year to install the scanners in each of its 30-plus classrooms.
The newspaper said, ‘Students are now required to ‘check in’ to each class by pressing their thumbs against the scanner.’
Hou Lichen, dean of the college in the central province of Hunan, said that in the past, teachers would record attendances by taking registers. However, these were time-consuming and it was easy to cheat. Attendance had risen to 95% since the scanners were introduced.,
Gu Yifan, a first-year student, said she would never skip class, regardless of whether there was a scanner. She said, ‘We are adults. Is it really necessary to control us in this way?’ The evidence suggests that, sadly, this is indeed the case.
Other students said they feared the fingerprint data could be leaked out of the college and used for other purposes. And experience suggests that this, too, is sadly the case.
Source: Yahoo News