DHQ Attendance — a school attendance system for Uganda
Teachers mark themselves present and take the register for their class. Head teachers see the day as it happens. District and Ministry officers see it by school, by district and by term — while the term is still running, not after it has ended.
On any phone, with or without internet
A teacher with a smartphone scans the QR poster on the wall or types a six-digit code. A teacher with a basic handset dials a USSD code — no internet at all, and the mobile network identifies them. When there is no signal, the register is marked offline and sent when the phone finds one; the time recorded is when the teacher marked it, not when it arrived.
Attendance is recorded where the teacher is standing. A check-in from outside the school boundary is refused, so a code shared with somebody at home is worth nothing.
Every absence carries a reason
A learner marked absent must have a reason recorded — illness, family work, school fees, travel, weather. "Absent, no reason given" is the row that makes a whole term's data useless, so the system does not accept it. Reasons that reveal a child's health are treated as a special category and are not shown outside the school.
Who uses it
- Teachers — check in three times a day and take the class register.
- Head teachers — open the day's sessions, register their own staff, grant leave.
- Field officers — register schools, head teachers and the district's education officer.
- District and Chief Education Officers — oversee every school in a district.
- Ministry — the same picture nationally, in aggregate.
Questions
Does it work without internet?
Yes. Registers and check-ins are queued on the phone and sent when a signal returns. On a basic phone with no internet at all, teachers use a USSD dial code instead.
What stops a teacher checking in from home?
Every check-in records the position it came from and is refused outside the school's boundary. Accounts can also be tied to the handset they check in from, so one phone cannot check in two teachers.
Is it the same thing as Dettol Hygiene Quest?
Yes. This system was previously called Dettol Hygiene Quest, and is sometimes shortened to Hygiene Quest or DHQ. It is now DHQ Attendance.
Who can see a child's name?
Their teacher, their head teacher and their district education officer. The Ministry sees counts only. Names and phone numbers are masked on every screen, and uncovering one requires a one-time code sent to the person it belongs to — every look is logged.
DHQ Attendance is run by Child Hygiene Center. Access is for registered school staff and education officers only.