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Tashkent’s city administration plans to extend its AI-powered school attendance system to 302 additional schools over 2027 and 2028, according to an order signed by the capital’s hokim on 6 October. The directive follows a pilot of the platform, known as SI Davomat, that has been running in 26 schools in the Sergeli district, where 446 smart cameras were installed.

The city hokimiyat said the system uses smart cameras and Face ID technology to log students’ arrival at school and their presence in individual lessons. Officials framed the expansion as a welfare measure as much as a surveillance tool. “This will allow specialists to examine the underlying reasons more closely, work with families and schools and provide children with the necessary support in a timely manner,” the hokimiyat said in a statement.

The administration also indicated that the platform’s scope goes beyond simple headcounts. According to the hokimiyat, SI Davomat is designed to analyse lesson organisation, student engagement and teaching methods, broken down by subject, class and teacher — a function that would give administrators detailed data on classroom dynamics across the city’s public school network.

Presidential directive behind the push

The hokim’s order references a protocol containing instructions issued by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on 4 September, directed at improving attendance rates in Tashkent’s general-education schools and calling for the system to be extended to all schools in the capital. Tashkent currently has more than 500 public schools and around 150 private schools, meaning the 302-school tranche would represent a substantial share of the remaining public institutions not yet covered.

Results from the Sergeli pilot were intended to inform the phased citywide rollout, though the hokimiyat’s order does not detail what those results showed or set out specific targets for attendance improvement. The timeline — spanning two academic years — suggests the administration is planning a staged deployment rather than a simultaneous switch-on across all remaining schools.

The expansion raises questions about data governance and parental consent that the hokimiyat’s public statements have not yet addressed. The order and accompanying protocol have not been published in full.

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