Beyond the Fingerprints: Lived Experiences of Island and Mountain School Teachers on the Centralized Biometrics System

This study explored the lived experiences of island and mountain school teachers in Talibon I and II Districts, Division of Bohol, regarding the implementation of the Centralized Biometrics System launched in February 2026. It examined teachers’ initial reactions and lived experiences, the effects of the system on their teaching conditions and effectiveness, the challenges they encountered, their coping mechanisms, and the school support systems they received, as bases for a proposed action plan. Using a qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological design, data were gathered through validated semi-structured interviews with 12 purposively selected public elementary school teachers, six from island schools and six from mountain schools, and analyzed using Moustakas’ phenomenological data analysis method with member checking. Teachers initially reacted with ambivalence and anxiety, but also with a professional growth mindset and recognition of the system’s benefits. Their lived experiences centered on adjustment and adaptation, time management, system reliability challenges, external circumstances, emotional impact, policy constraints, work-life balance, and mixed perceptions. Although the system added routines, stress, and contextual constraints, it fostered positive professional habits and accountability, and teachers maintained their teaching effectiveness. Challenges included technical failures, geographic and weather-related barriers, administrative burden, emotional strain, and conflicts with personal responsibilities. Teachers coped through adaptation routines, emotional regulation, collective coping, and institutional navigation, supported by administrative responsiveness, peer guidance, and institutional mechanisms of varying adequacy. The study concludes that while the system posed challenges of reliability and rigidity, teachers reframed compliance as professional growth and sustained resilience through solidarity and support, and that the system ultimately had more positive than negative effects. It recommends a human-centered implementation with orientation, technical support, contingency measures, flexible adjustment policies, and regular monitoring.