Tracking Student Progress: Why Academic Institutions Need School Management Systems

Running a school of any size is a complex undertaking.? There are a number of stakeholders - students, teachers, administrators, non-teaching staff, parents, government regulators and so on.?

School leaders subscribe to established curricula usually set by their government educational bodies and deliver it through a hierarchy of subject guides, lesson plans, and learning activities subject to different degrees and levels of evaluation. A huge volume of hard data is generated through these processes. School administrators and management study it to assess student learning and effectiveness of systems and practices of the school.

For schools to be able to use data efficiently, it has to be organized, unambiguous, detailed and properly labeled and stored.? Sometimes, similar data is generated or stored by different departments of a school in a different format. However, without a proper system to organize their workflow, this often results in a lack of organization and data duplication.

Under these circumstances, it is impossible for school authorities to use this data efficiently to meet their objectives. Having organized systems in place, therefore, is crucial.

How To Solve Data Duplication In Schools

In addition to an organized and efficient data management system, schools can benefit from:?

• Utilizing a central feedback management system (with detailed analysis)
• Having a deeper analysis on student progression, strengths and variations
• Implementing a central knowledge repository system to guide educators in curriculum delivery
• Installing a unified collaboration and communication system so parents and teachers can work as partners in the child’s education

Having an ERP (online school management system) can therefore enable authorities to focus on deeper analysis such as understanding learning trends, transition patterns, and proficiency levels. This kind of information can help schools take stock of where they are and plan what they want to do next. They can then enhance their student programs, establish a plan for training educators, review and change policies and establish stronger systems to achieve what they want to.??

Moreover, school management systems are very secure. The school has complete control over who can view, modify and use the different kinds of data available in the school thereby ensuring confidentiality and safety of sensitive data.

NetSuite (the world’s largest cloud-based ERP provider) – and Softype (a recognized NetSuite solution provider) have developed a fully integrated educational ERP (edERP) software for managing K-12 schools. edERP is a complete school management solution that helps manage all aspects of schools or universities with respect to their finances, budgets, enrolment, student record, admission and transcript information.

edERP is a unified platform to improve planning, plan budgeting, better resource utilization, better curriculum and assessment tools, and improve visibility on student progress.

What A School Management System Should Have:

1. Financials and Budgeting?

It includes purchasing; budget and funds accounting; fixed asset management; treasury and banking; disbursements; store management; financial reporting; taxation and revenue recognition.

2. Course Management and Scheduling?

It includes curriculum management; class scheduling and faculty assignment and scheduling. It allows full visibility of schedules for the entire school.

3. Admissions

It manages new admissions to the school. The application can be customized according to procedures followed by the school. Exam booking and scheduling can be done through the system. Application processing workflow covers the entire cycle from collecting documents, to issuing acceptance/rejection letters, enrolment of students on completion of the admission process and assigning them to a waitlist in case admissions are full.

4. Enrolment?

It manages the assignment of students to classes. A single comprehensive view of the entire curriculum for each student in the school is available. Relevant stakeholders can have a single view of the enrolment adjustment activities for students having non-standard schedules. It is the primary tool for the Principal and Section Heads to organize and plan each student’s course plan.

5. Grading and Attendance?

When teachers upload final grades into the system, it prepares and prints out the report card. Teachers can also upload intermediate grades and upload daily, weekly or monthly attendance.

6. Student Records?

It provides a comprehensive view of a student’s record for all interactions during the entire student lifecycle at a school. These records include up-to-date personal and school-related information and status, complete history of student achievements, discipline records, complete up-to-date records related to student accounts.

7. Faculty Centre?

It provides a single view for the teacher to manage teaching schedules; grade reporting; attendance reporting; communication with students, parents and school authorities.

The edERP solution is delivered on a cloud platform. There is no need for any local investment in hardware and IT, as information can be accessed and deployed from anywhere quickly and easily.

Why Your School Should Have An ERP

Educational institutions with a tight budget may be sensitive to significant financial decision-making around their systems. Fortunately, ERPs are well worth the investment and can even enable cost savings and operational efficiencies.

Working with an ERP system like Oracle NetSuite can yield numerous benefits for your organization, especially if you work with an expert like Softype for implementation and customization to your current workflow.

Here are some benefits of using an ERP for your school that you should know about:

• The system is updated twice a year and therefore is never obsolete
• Since it is a cloud service, there is no need for any server or hardware infrastructure thereby reducing costs for IT
• The deployment of this service will take anywhere between 90-150 days only
• It is a modern, flexible and evolving system
• The scope of this service can be expanded and extended as the organization evolves

Softype is an expert in utilizing NetSuite ERP for educational organizations. If you want to streamline your internal workflows and ensure smooth communication and storage of your data with NetSuite, contact us to start now!