The Department of School Education has informed all concerned that the Smart Attendance Management and Informative Leaves (SMILE) App, initiated under the NECTAR Project, has entered its second year of implementation.
In a notification, the department said that due to the “large number of users, including teachers and staff across the State,” the application had initially experienced technical issues caused by heavy traffic. It said the “concerned technical team has been continuously addressing user-reported issues, and most technical glitches have now been resolved.”
The department further informed that a “new and improved version of the SMILE App is now available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store,” and advised all employees to “update the application to the latest version at the earliest.”
According to the notification, the department will commence regular monitoring of attendance from 27 January 2026 onwards. “All employees are directed to mark their attendance on the SMILE App using their mobile phones or tablet without fail,” it stated.
Warning of strict action, the department said that “non-compliance or poor attendance shall be met with appropriate disciplinary action, including withholding of salary and will be reflected in the APAR, which may affect promotions and other service-related benefits.”
For effective implementation, the department said employees must mark attendance “strictly in accordance with their prescribed working hours and designated time slots applicable to their category.”
Highlighting provisions for areas with connectivity challenges, the department said the SMILE App is “equipped with an offline attendance feature,” allowing users in areas with “limited or no internet connectivity” to mark attendance without active network access. It said offline data can be stored for “up to 30 days” and will be “automatically synchronised once network connectivity is restored.”
In areas without internet connectivity, the department directed that the “SMILE App Coordinator shall ensure that the kiosk tablet is taken to a network-enabled location on a fortnightly basis (preferably, 15th and the last working day of every month) for mandatory data synchronisation.”
The notification further directed the “respective Heads of Schools/Institutions to ensure strict compliance and regular usage by all the staff.”
For redressal of issues, the department said users may WhatsApp or call the helpline numbers 8974102488, 6909644519 and 7005655098.
