Educational institutions have been catering to the upliftment of society with their services and as the educational ecosystem has been growing today with many new technological courses'.
New technological courses' institutes coming into the spotlight,the ERPs or Enterprise Resources Planning software is being designed to cater to the market.
Dealing with many technical terms that are floating around in the educational ecosystem, theERP software for schools and their need is recognised by many organisations.But what exactly is ERP software for schools? We, at Startupcity India, are going to break down the term for you:
ERP stands forEnterprise Resource Planning, the business management software is essentially equipped to help the institutions manage internal processes.
While it has already created a lot of buzz and solutions in increasing the efficiency of the businesses and organisations, it is progressively viewed as an application that the educational institutions like schools and colleges can use.
As mentioned, itis a tool to increase productivity, the ERP software for schools is a planningor managementsoftware being used to manage school processes and functions thatallows the institution of schools manage everything ranging from admissions toonboarding to fee receipt generation and student tracking.
Now, with each organisation, the requirements may change and the ERP software holds thepotential to meet the same.
When it comes to schools, it involves a lot of elements including the data of children, parents,teachers, non-teaching staff, top management, etc, and to ensure that each of the process is done on time from exams to management of the teachers, ERPbecomes a vital part of the school's functioning.
To increase the efficiency of the processes, one cannot leave the tasks to manage as there were traditional,from manual recoding of teacher's attendance to tracking of student's fees.
It is time to transition from the slower, old-fashioned way of doing things to using a simple, accessible tool that is agile and manage s things faster and with more efficiency. This is what ERP software for schools promises and offers as it is revolutionary.
Having mentioned that, let us look into the transformation ERP for schools brings in terms of school management.
"ERP is commonly misperceived as a computer system. Not so. It's a people system made possible by computer software and hardware." Thomas Wallace and MichealKrenzar's quotes true.
The ERP software for schools takes over the myriad processes and functions in a school but it is not representative of the fact that the human input is eliminated.
What happens is that ERP software for school helps in maximising this input by eliminating time-consuming and error-prone processes that were bogging down stakeholders.
From the adoption of ERP in schools, which are the parties that are getting the help needed? Is the school management system software just for management and administrator hoping to digitise some processes? No, all the parties involved including parents, students, and teachers benefit from the use of the right ERPsoftware for school.
They ensure that there is an enhanced parent and teacher communication thanks to private communication channels between them allowing both the parties to be accessible around the clock and from anywhere.
It's Also a technology that will allow tracking of the student's progress to be measured more accurately and continually thanks to all this information being fed into your ERP software for school.
The best ERPsoftware for school is focused on enhancing teaching, learning and communication consistently to create a win situation for the primary stakeholders in any school, the student, who benefits from the efficient functioning of their school.
Well, before theadoption of any technology into any organisation., We have answered for you thebenefits that will be there, so the next important question is what'simportant?
It is not apt to just start using any old ERP software for yourschool without performing due diligence. Here, schools must make sure that theERP software they are choosing to suits their school's requirements.
It is alsoimportant to ensure that the ERP software for school you have chosen for yourschool addresses your school's needs and puts the major problems to rest.
Assaid, we are guiding you to choose the best ERP for your schools and hence,some factors must be considered well before you start using school ERPsoftware:
A priority thathas been focused on is to ensure you choose the right ERP software for schoolby conducting the assessment of the needs of your school.
The best school ERPsoftware has to have some of the key features that will address its currentrequirements as well as cover any gaps or areas of improvement that currentlyexist.
After theassessment, various points will come to spotlight that will enable one tochoose the right ERP software for school, based on its features andcapabilities, instead of making an uneducated decision based on popular vote,the decision will be more valuable.
Also, when we are at it, this assessment needsto be comprehensive to ensure that the ERP software for school as it willimpact the whole school.
This means that the assessment of the needs ofstudents, parents, teachers, non-education staff, administration, andmanagement with equal weightage is done. Following this assessment, one cannarrow down on the key needs that the ERP software for schools will address.
ERP software forschools is a technology-based addition to the business. Hence, the softwarethat is meant to meet certain requirements of the schools and for the same, inaddition to the need's assessment performed in the previous step, that focuses on requirements of parents, students, teachers, non-education staff,administration and management, there is a need for a technical assessment.
Yes, thistechnical assessment will zero in how technologically robust the school is. IfIt will boost the process of choosing the right ERP software for school tobecomes easier.
If a school is already a high-tech school, choosing ERPsoftware for a school becomes easier as the school is ready to use the ERPsoftware for school to its full capability.
In a less robust technical environment, however, the requirement is of something lightweight butfunctional ERP software for school to ensure optimum functioning.
Based on the after careful assessment of your school's needs, as you have now purchased the optimal ERP software for school, it is now time that both technical and thoseof key stakeholders in your educational ecosystem are equipped to handle thesoftware.
While they are already responsible for the efficient management of the processes, it is now necessary to ensure that these stakeholders use the ERP software for school in a way it is meant to be used.
While ERPsoftware for schools is usually designed keeping easy to use interface in mind,not everyone has a natural inclination towards technology. Having mentionedthat, one mustn't ignore the importance of making sure that each of the staffmembers is well aware of their role.
What happens if this hump exists? It will comprise the otherwise using of your ERP software for school to its full capability. But do not worry, this gap in knowledge is easily addressed through training.
The steps to be taken are holding work shops for every stakeholder to be conducted to onboard them onto the use of ERPsoftware for schools.
These workshops will offer them with the insights ofeverything from explaining why this ERP software for school is being used inthe first place to the nitty-gritty of how to perform each of their currenttasks within the ERP software for school.
The ERP is efficiently placed after the process of acceptance from all stakeholders on the use of ERP software for school which is necessary is done.
Once the school adapts the culture that embraces technology with a focus on building both the skills and attitude that celebrates the use of tech in teaching, it will be ensured that your ERP software for school is being used effectively.