Challenging the pen and paper approach of Pakistan’s education sector
The developed countries started focusing on the school management and education systems in their education reforms, starting in the late 1990s. Some international organizations, aiming to contribute to these reforms, have given special attention to education and tried to help countries with their loopholes in teaching, testing and evaluation systems. The future belongs to knowledge economies, striving for progress by embracing information and communication technology (ICT).
An academic institute is an open system. As with any other system, an educational institute also has inputs, processes, outputs, feedback, and there are sub-systems interacting with its environment. If we consider “process”, one of the subsystems, we can encounter its sub-systems which are based on four elements in cycle; these are management, education, culture and politics.
In Pakistan, prolonged debates are going on about the curriculum being taught at schools, dearth of well-versed academicians and other problems plaguing the education system of the country. However, seldom do we hear anything about “education management”. Our educationists tend to forget that it is the “education management” that affects and increases academic success of students and the implications for its development. The disinclination of our academia to this aspect of education sector can lead to grave consequences in future. In spite of facing a lack of resources, small scale schools are relying on manual labor and the pen and paper approach. Some school administrators/owners are oblivious of the fact that they can complete procedures with more ease and precision via the digital school management systems (SMS).
A newly established education sector solutions company in Pakistan has challenged this prevalent pen and paper approach. ManageWISE Pakistan strives to enable academic sector in harnessing the power of ICT for learning and management. The company has introduced a multi-purpose school management software which allows intelligent understanding and management of day to day activities at academic institutes; flexible enough to support unique needs “off-the-shelf” with user-defined data and built-in reports.
The software is the next-gen solution to all administrative procedures. As a solution provider to educational institutes, ManageWISE promises a three-pronged advantage to the education sector of Pakistan through the freshly launched software. Firstly, the paper work will be minimized as the online administration system has simplified that area by automating all procedures. In addition to this, administrators won’t have to hire extra staff members because the computer and software are there for multi-tasking. Consequently, student attendance, appraisal and financial reports can be easily accessed and printed by just a few clicks.
Secondly, the entire finance department is free from fraud, theft and errors because all important financial data and records are being recorded and maintained with foolproof efficiency. Each transaction can be monitored at all times leaving behind no margin of mishaps.
Above all, circulating important information across parents would become quite easy. This would allow students, parents and teachers to be on the same page. The progress of students will be easy to track and monitor.
In relation to what ManageWISE is willing to offer, it is a promising solution provider for the education sector of Pakistan that is already struggling to stride towards an encouraging progressive change. The academicians need to be cognizant of the upcoming educational challenges of the country and take help from solutions’ company like ManageWISE.
Source: The Nation