A student attendance management system offers multiple benefits compared to the manual one. This new automated way is an upgrade that every school needs. Granted, it may need some time for stakeholders to adjust to this new system, but it’s an investment that is worth it.
With everything around us developing and getting automated, schools also need to adapt. We need to find new ways to tackle century-old problems. In doing so, we can make sure that we’re always moving forward.
Let’s discuss further the benefits of a student attendance management system.
1. Data Collected is Accurate and Secured
Manual checking of attendance is susceptible to human errors. Data collected by an automated system is more accurate because the process is carried out by a computer.
A student attendance management system will be able to record the exact time that a student gets to school. Since everything is automated, the moment the student scans their biometrics or logs into the system, the time is recorded.
With the traditional way of taking attendance, teachers would only check if they’re present or not. They’re much too busy to ask the students what time they arrived at school. Aside from that, the students can easily lie about their time of arrival if the teacher asks.
With an automated system, the students won’t be able to lie about what time they got to school. The teachers don’t even have to concern themselves with this because they can always revisit the data later.
Another issue this system can address is the tendency of students to log in the attendance of other students on their behalf. This is a problem because, with manual attendance, it’s counted that they went to class even though they didn’t.
With an automated system, each student has their own unique credentials for logging in their attendance. If they’re not in class, they won’t be able to log in to their attendance.
2. Data is Secured
Aside from accuracy, the data is also secured.
Upon making the system, teams develop multiple layers of security to ensure that the data is secured. This means that only the right people with the right authorization can access the data.
There are 2 types of student attendance management systems. There are web-based and cloud-based school management systems. Each of these 2 has its own advantages over each other. But when it comes to security, cloud-based school management systems are a better option. It has more layers of security compared to the web-based version.
3. Data is Centralized and Accessible
Whenever the system collects data from students and other personnel, it uploads that data to centralized storage. This storage can be physical storage, like a centralized PC, or it can also be cloud storage. Either way, the system is then connected to authorized devices or accounts with permission.
From the point of view of the students, it would be easier to view their attendance over the grading period. They wouldn’t need to ask their teachers one by one for their records anymore.
From the point of view of the teachers, this system is easier because they don’t need to carry multiple records of attendance. When the time comes wherein they need to check it for the grades, everything they need is in one system. It’s even easier for teachers to share records of attendance if they substitute for an absent teacher.
From the point of view of the administrators, this is another layer of security for them. They have the exact time when the kids enter and exit the schools. In an event wherein something happens to the kids, they have an automated record if the kid was in school or not.
It’s also easier for them to track tardiness. This can then be communicated to the parents for appropriate actions and solutions.
4. Keep the Parents in the Loop
Another benefit of this is that it can send important information to the parents. With a system that is updated in real-time, the system can also be programmed to send notifications via email or SMS. They will be notified instantly on what time their children got to school.
This way, they can rest assured that their child is in school. On the other side of the coin, they would also know if their child decided to skip school and never logged in.
Being able to keep the parents in the loop is a value-added for the school. It reassures the parents that the school values their students and their communication with the parents. It’s also an added layer of security for the students, as previously discussed.
5. A Student Attendance Management System can Generate Analytics
A student attendance management system has the ability to generate reports on demand. This is perhaps one of the most important benefits of having one.
With the system, the user is able to identify the attendance trends. This can be customized to analyze a certain grade level, a particular class, or a specific student.
For example, you want to find out if a certain student has been going to class for the past grading period. Some teachers report that this particular student has not been going to class lately, and they’re worried about his performance.
With the system, you’ll be able to pull up a whole report on the student’s attendance. There are even graphs wherein the user can see the increase or decrease of the student’s attendance.
Once this report has been generated, the administration and/or the teachers can then make appropriate decisions. It’s one step closer to making a more effective course of action.
The reports can also be sent to the parents so that they’re aware of their children’s performance. You can also program the system to generate these reports weekly or monthly so they’re always updated.
If the admin were to do it manually, they’d have to sift through hundreds of records to look for the right student. They’ll have to collect the records of all the teachers of the student. Then they’ll have to do the statistical processes for it.
It’s a very long and tiring process.
But with a student attendance management system, everything is automated. This makes the whole ordeal easier and quicker.
6. Time Saving For Both Teacher and Student
Let’s take in the practicality of having a student attendance management system.
Let’s say one teacher has 4 classes in a day. In each of those classes, the teacher has roughly 40 students. If a teacher spends around 10 minutes calling out names and checking the attendance, that’s 40 minutes of wasted time in a day. That’s 200 minutes in a week and 800 minutes in a month.
That’s 13.3 hours in a month, almost half a day wasted on just attendance! Take note, that’s just for one teacher. A school has dozens of teachers! All this time could have been saved if there was a faster way of taking attendance.
Students only need to log in online or via biometrics. This takes only a few seconds for the student, and if it’s online, all the students can do it simultaneously. The system is also easy to learn and navigate, so the students won’t have a hard time logging in.
As for the teachers, compared to needing to call each student one by one, all they have to do now is supervise the process. They should also have training concerning troubleshooting common problems just in case a student can’t log in.
When the time comes that the teacher needs to check the attendance for the final grade, they just need to check the system. It only takes a few seconds to pull up the attendance of any student throughout the grading period.
7. Environment & User Friendly
The traditional way of recording attendance is through pen and paper. Some schools would have one paper per subject and per class dedicated for attendance. So if one class has 8 subjects in a day, that’s 8 pieces of paper. Multiply that to 180 days in a school year, and that’s 1,440 pieces of paper. And that’s for just one class.
Some schools give their teachers notebooks where they can log the attendance daily. Despite having lots and lots of classes and students, chances are, that notebook won’t be filled up. There will always be pages wherein it won’t be used. What happens to those pages?
Whatever way schools and teachers take attendance, if it involves a pen and paper, it’s always going to be lots of it. There will always be lots of paper that could have been used for something else. This also means money that was spent on paper could have been allocated to something else.
A student attendance management system will be able to reduce the use of paper and the budget allocated for it. Having everything digital will save resources, time, and energy.
FAQs
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Key Takeaways
Getting your first student attendance management system is a big step towards innovation and modernization. Schools have been the way they are for centuries. With the world rapidly evolving, schools also need to keep up.
To summarize, the benefits of student attendance management systems are as follows:
- Data Collected is Accurate and Secured
- Data is Secured
- Data is Centralized and Accessible
- Keep the Parents in the Loop
- A Student Attendance Management System can Generate Analytics
- Time Saving For Both Teacher and Student
- Environment & User Friendly
At the end of the day, all we want is a better system for all our stakeholders. Being able to offer all of these benefits to our stakeholders is worth all the investment.