Page 53 - EducationWorld March 2022

EW SPOTLIGHT FEATURE

Do You Really Need School

Management Software?

he past few years have been the orthodox pen and paper approach
a giant techno-bubble where to a technology-driven approach
Tvirtually every problem, when it comes to managing school-
every pain point has an answer in related problems. Only when school
technology. The education space managements have a technology-
is no different. It has witnessed a driven mindset, can they convince
giant boom in edtech ventures, their teams and other stakeholders
each offering its own technology- to cooperate and build an authentic,
based solutions for problems faced technology-powered school.
by school managements. 5. What is your budget?
School owners may have at Even when your answer to all the
some point felt the pressure to above questions indicates that you
acquire a school management are ready for a school management
software, a need often arising Abhiraj Malhotra software, check your budget before
from the belief that owning such a you make the final call. If your budget
software is a ticket to a tech-savvy Co-founder, SchoolPad doesn’t permit you to invest in high-
future. This belief is further fueled end software, you may find yourself
by schools which have benefited stuck with a sub-optimal product
from such software and the edtech may be time for a software that will help or without proper service and support,
industry, which believes that school you address these issues quickly and which will eventually lead to a total loss of
management software is the need of the effectively. investment for your school.
hour. 2. What Is The Size of Your School? This checklist is merely a guideline to
While there’s no denying the Regardless of the complexity of the help you navigate an otherwise daunting
significance of school management problems you may have identified, when decision-making process. Ultimately,
software to most schools, it’s noteworthy it comes to making that critical decision while a good school management
that not all schools have similar needs. about the need for a school management software can be path-breaking, the
What is needed is a detailed, value-based software, school size matters the most. decision to imvest in it must be logical,
assessment of the concerns and needs of If your school is small and you are facing well-thought out, based on your true
school managements before arriving at a the problems mentioned above, your needs and not prompted by industry
conclusion. school may well be able to fix them by sales, and also made at the right time per
Distilled from our experience at effective strategy and freely available your specific requirements.
SchoolPad, below are five essential tools without investing in a dedicated Having worked with multiple schools
questions that school owners must management software. in the past, we at SchoolPad assist our
ask themselves before deciding on the 3. Is Your Team Ready? clients in making a proper, need-based
software. This is a critical question because school analysis, when it comes to software
1. Have You Identified Your Key management software is data-driven, acquisition. After all, only the right
Problem Areas? which means that all departments would decision at the right time can make
A School Management Software is a tool need to routinely feed in data.. Unless your journey into the world of school
meant to help fix specific school-related you have a team that is amenable to tech- management software worth your time,
problems. This means that you first intensive training and have one or two money, and effort.
need to identify your concerns, that your individuals to spare who can be dedicated If this article has got you thinking about
software must address. For example, to making the software implementation a school management software, and you
your school may be facing fee collection success, it may not be the right time for are curious to know more about how we
issues, withdrawal mismanagement, you to opt for the software. at SchoolPad work with schools and help
or parents’ complaints about improper 4. Are you ready for the mindset shift? them manage their data and workflows
progress reports. If you are unable to It is essential for school owners or more efficiently, please write to us at
fix these problems independently, it principals to make a mindset shift from connect@schoolpad.in.

EDUCATIONWORLD MARCH 2022