Digital School Management Systems to Foster Education Revolution
The education sector is on the brink of a technological revolution, borne on the wings of the realisation that the traditional methods — the chalk-and-talk mode of learning and the pen-and-paper administration — cannot meet the flexibility and diversity required in the 21st-century society. Managing various academic and administrative activities, such as admissions, examinations and fee payment, is a mammoth responsibility for any school. If principals and teachers spend their time buried under paperwork, how will they concentrate on more important things such as effective strategising for better teaching and learning? This is why an IT-enabled school management system is required for the all-round automation and better organisation of school procedures, including customisation of learning.
The National Policy on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in School Education, 2012 states that such automated school management systems facilitate analytical modes of teaching and learning, leading to personalised remediation. The school information management system generates detailed reports on student and teacher performance, which help the school in taking appropriate measures. This helps schools in reviewing their performance against their goals, leading to transparency, accountability and credibility within the learning space.
School management software also improves communication and collaboration among K–12 stakeholders to augment the academic progress of students. Parents are kept abreast of the happenings in the school, especially with regard to their children’s activities. This builds a strong relationship between the parents and the school, which is beneficial for the holistic development of the students. Additionally, feedback from parents and staff regarding any school procedure is recorded and analysed, so that the system itself can be customised to suit the changing requirements of the stakeholders.
Therefore, the aim of this issue of the magazine is to show how a school management software works towards scaling up the learning environment, thus creating progressive schools. Other topics of discussion include the reduction of focus on exams and homework in schools, and the significance of including sex education and mindfulness meditation process in the K–12 curricula. This, in turn, can help fulfil the tenets of true education in building an equitable and healthy learning community.
