How to Make School enrollment process hassle free

Is Enrollment the same as Admissions?

School admission is one of the most stressful and panic-inducing processes for everyone in the educational ecosystem – from parents to educators to administrative staff to management to the students seeking a seat in the school. With increasingly robust technology, huge swathes of this experience has become digital, much to the relief of its victims. But is this the same as enrollment?

In short, no. Enrollment is what comes right after admission is granted to a prospective student. It is the process of finishing all the formalities to onboard the student into the school. And it happens every year. It is not just individual schools that have specific enrollment processes. Moving to a new grade – especially one that places the student in a significant year – involves its own paperwork and necessities that need to processed. Enrollment, thus, is a long drawn out process in itself, over and above admissions.

Why Do We Need To Make Enrollment Go Digital?

Enrollment is much of a process as admissions, just more internal facing. There is extensive paperwork to be completed – from medical information to fee processing. There is submission, verification and other processing that must be completed for all sorts of forms that need to be handed in. In the old days, these would be physically sorted by administrators into filing cabinets – all handled in real time by people and thus prone to human error.

The right school management system however, will be able to eliminate a lot of these issues by digitally processing these files. It is a transition from paperwork to soft copies that are easier to deal with.

What Aspects of The Enrollment Process Can School Management System Handle?

The school management system like School Software Pro can handle many aspects of the enrollment process. It begins with informing the student and parent of all the information required. They may need to fill up some forms, which then have to be filled and submitted to the appropriate departments.

Your school management system will correctly channel forms to the right people, maintaining student confidentiality throughout, since access to them can be controlled according to the permissions set by the school management system. Incomplete or incorrect forms can naturally be eliminated by setting rules that do not allow progression in the process until the form has been appropriately filled.

After this, the school administration takes over. The forms are shared with the appropriate administrative staff who may then just file it to the student’s file in the school management system, or share it with the appropriate personnel for further processing, verify it using the school management system if possible, or respond confidentially to the parent or student if needed.

Electronic records are then maintained on the school management system itself and can be easily and securely accessed by the appropriate people at any time.

Read: How does school management software help schools in Nigeria in saving money?

What are the advantages of using a school management system for enrollment?

1. Waste less time on mechanical processes

As you can imagine, electronic enrollment processing is far less time to consume than its physical, real paper counterpart. This is primarily because enrollment forms and processes can be easily accessed across devices at any time by the parent or student via the school management system. The school management system is familiar to these stakeholders and they are able to comfortably and swiftly fill in forms, respond to queries, complete verifications steps, submit paperwork and store their records within it. Time saved is time earned – a less cumbersome process is helpful to all the stakeholders in the system, including overworked administrators who traditionally bear the brunt of load that is taken on in this phase of the process.

2. Set the tone to build an environmentally conscious scholar

A very obvious advantage of using your school management system for the enrollment process is the reduction in the amount of resources used and wasted when relying on the obsolete method. The old-fashioned way of doing things involves running around, usage of printer ink to print all the information, and of course reams and reams of paper submissions. Is this the example your institution wants to set for its students who will become future leaders who rely on a healthy planet to survive? Institutions owe it to their students to set a good example by eliminating unnecessary waste and reducing the carbon footprint they leave behind whenever possible. Using a school management system to take over the paper-heavy process of enrollment is the first step to setting the tone with all the stakeholders in your system

3. Ensure easy accessibility through technology

A good school management system is available across laptops, computers, mobile phones and other personal devices at all times. Unlike human administrators who might be available for limited periods of time and at a specific location, parents and students can access administrative functions on the go through their school management system. But it does not just stop with form submissions. Even verification (through tools like e-Verify) can be conducted any time and at any place. Correspondence can be had on the fly. Records can be viewed, added, deleted or shared on the go.

4. More secure record management made possible

The long-term or hidden advantages of managing enrollments through your school management system are twofold: firstly, since dusty files and cumbersome cabinets are no longer being relied on, the logistical issue of records management is tackled easily. Both current students and alumni can enjoy access to electronic school records through their school management system, which means that this information lasts forever. Secondly, this information remains secure. Your school management system will allow access based on the permissions set by you. This means that only authorised handles will be able to access certain files and information, according to the rules that have been created by you. It is easy implementation security, because it is the one you are already relying on with your school management system. Rest easy that private student information remains confidential and safe forever.

Source: http://www.schoolsoftware.com.ng/blog/make-the-enrollment-process-hassle-free-with-school-software-pro