What Is Student Information System? This Is What You Should Know.

Over the past few years, the way in which schools operate has undergone a radical transformation. The educational environment today is highly competitive and fast-evolving. The schools are challenged with ensuring the academic and holistic development of the students while also ensuring that their institutes function with the efficiency of a highly organized corporate body. 

This makes it important for schools to invest in technology like student information systems that streamline the activities and administration of the school as well as empower them with the technology to offer the best pedagogical experience for the students.

What Is SIS (Student Information System)?

In its simplest definition, a Student Information System – or SIS is a platform that contains all the information of the students in an institute, in a digital format. From course enrollment and student attendance to grades and course history, SIS maintains records spanning the student’s entire academic career. Rather than keeping manual records of student data, the SIS manages the entire school data in a secure manner. It forms an integral part of the enterprise solutions that are also responsible for managing human resources and financial services functions in the institute.  

What Are The Uses Of SIS?

Here are some benefits of investing in a student information system for your institute:

1. Improves The Functioning Of The School

One of the biggest advantages of investing in an SIS is that it improves the efficiency of the school. Administrative activities like admission management, attendance tracking, timetable creation, grade book management can take a lot of time and effort of the school administration. An SIS automates these processes thereby not only improving the functioning of the school but significantly reducing the stress on the school team.

2. Eliminates Human Error

When we work under stress and pressure–there is always the chance of making a small error – which can often have a high impact of the finances or reputation of the school. A SIS is automated and it can help to prevent or at least minimize human error.

3. Improves Communication Across The School

The use of a SIS helps to improve communication across all facilities and departments of the school. More specifically, it greatly improves parent-teacher communication, which has a positive impact on the student’s academic performance as well as discipline. 

Previously, parents who wanted an update on their child would have to wait until the parent-teacher meeting, by which time it was too late to reverse a student’s lack of progress. With the help of SIS, parents have easy access to information they need to track their child’s attendance, academic, and other school-related information. This enables them to take early and corrective action as and when needed.

4. Helps To Keep Track Of Every School Student

In bigger schools with a large number of students, it can be hard to keep track of all the activities of a student – from academics to sports and other extracurricular activities. These all need proper documentation – from enrollment, monthly fees to any awards or accolades won. Using an SIS ensures that the record of each student is accurately maintained in real-time which helps in making make data-driven decisions to improve the student’s academic development.

5. Helps Create Fast And Accurate Reports 

A SIS ensures that data for every student is maintained accurately. Since this information is stored online and can be accessed easily (with authorization) it makes it easier to create specific reports to be generated based on the needs and requirements. 

6. Builds A Strong Alumina Network

The alumni networks of the college are of immense value to students currently enrolled in the institute. Using a SIS, institutes can easily maintain alumni records, track their alumni’s progress, and identify those they could reach out to for mentorship and placement assistance by engaging in regular interaction and interactions with alumni.

7. Easy Fees Management

One of the biggest hassles for schools is fees collection, sending reminders, and receipts to parents. However, a SIS automates this process, sends an automatic reminder to parents, and generates receipts when the fee payment is complete. Additionally, a payment gateway integrated into the SIS makes fee collection all the easier and hassle-free for the parents and the school.

Major Features Of A Student Information System

1. Student Data Management
2. Report Generation
3. Admission Management
4. Online Fees Management
5. Transport Management
6. Attendance Management
7. Examination Management
8. Hostel Management
9. Library Management
10. Alumni Management
11. Communication Management
12. Mobile App

How To Spot Best SIS?

When selecting a SIS for your institute, there are a few key pointers to keep in mind

1. Ease of Use

This is the basic factor to keep in mind when selecting an SIS. The SIS should have a clean, intuitive interface that makes it simple for everyone to use so that even those not well-versed with the system can use it without getting intimidated. 

2. Training and Support

An SIS should ensure that they have a set-up to train the teachers and staff in using the various features of the system. Training and support can ensure that schools and colleges can use the system with ease.

3. Customization

When selecting a SIS for your institute, it is good to opt for an SIS that can be easily customized according to the needs of the school. This helps the teams to use the various functions as they require.

4. Integration With Other Tools

A SIS should be easily integrated with other tools to meet the demands of the administration, as well as the students and their parents. This includes integration with tools such as biometrics for attendance, Zoom and Google Meet integration for online classes, payment gateway integration for online fees payment etc.

5. Data Security

It is also important for the SIS to have a data security feature so that all the vital student and school data remains secure. This helps the school avoid data thefts. Additionally, unlike manual records or excel sheet records, a SIS gets automatic security updates and data backups at regular intervals to ensure the security of the data.

 What Business Uses SIS?

A SIS can be used by a number of organizations besides schools, colleges, and educational institutes. Organizations with numerous employees can use a SIS to manage the employment records, benefits, and payroll calculations for their staff. 

In conclusion,

In this digital age, investing in a SIS for your school will not just give your students a better learning experience, but it is a great way to stay competitive and relevant. Fedena’s Student Information System is a complete system that helps schools & colleges efficiently manage their daily academic and administrative activities while meeting the academic demands of the students and teachers.