What comes to your mind when you recall the start of a school day? Assembly hall, morning prayer, and classroom attendance. Everyone remembers teachers calling out students' names to record their presence or absence. At the same time, many schools employed a more sophisticated process that required you to punch your ID card into a sensor. Earlier, fewer institutions opted for automated processes over manual ones.
However, in recent times, an attendance tracker has been an essential addition to school Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Not only is it more accessible, but it also saves a lot of valuable classroom time.
The importance of attendance management system for an school can be understood by using the automated system in the schools to recognize a student-
- At the risk of having low attendance
- Escaping the routine observation of attendance
- Absence patterns and analysis of the excuses offered for absences
Understanding the importance of the Attendance Management System is crucial as it contains vital data and generates automated reports essential for overall school management.
Defining Attendance Management System
To keep track of the management's attendance and time, an organization uses an effective system for attendance management. Using an accurate system, you can calculate your staff's working hours and conserve time and resources simultaneously.
In a similar way, the attendance software for students is designed to maintain their attendance records and serve as an intelligent communication tool between students, teachers, and parents. One can also integrate it with virtual classroom software for grade management, timesheet, and behavioral reports. It is employed to make data-driven decisions about the school's activities.
On defining,
A system for attendance management that tracks the staff and students’ attendance information. It is a web-based or application-based system to streamline recording and retrieving attendance information.
Knowing the Possible Users of the Attendance Management System
It is simpler to integrate data and automatically track the time of employees and pupils with the web application. The management can keep track of the exact days or hours that students and teachers were present or absent.
The importance of attendance management system is that it is valuable for recording attendance and ensuring a smooth staff payroll procedure. Both teaching and non-teaching personnel can record their hours worked and attendance. The following are some examples of organizations of varying levels that can use this system:
- Colleges/universities
- International schools
- Public & private schools
- Primary, Secondary & Higher educational institutions
- Charter schools
- Kids’ schools
- Cultural academies
- Coaching institutions
- Vocational institutes
- Organizations
- Companies with distributed staff
Teachers can save time by digitally recording students' attendance during class using an effective system for managing the students attendance. Regardless of the setting, a student attendance system is one of the most creative methods for tracking and monitoring student attendance that may help speed up everyday operations. Parents usually expect a school to have a reliable system for monitoring student attendance. Therefore, an educational institution should develop an efficient and effective administrative system.
Recognizing the Traditional Attendance System's Alternatives
Traditionally, school administration needs someone to collect the students' attendance. For such purposes, class teachers are the ones who are responsible for tracking and reporting absenteeism and the presence of students. Although commonly done, in a way, it steals away some essential minutes of the teachers' allotted time with their students.
Therefore, we need to develop some innovative tactics for effective attendance monitoring. Other efficient methods for rapidly checking attendance should be incorporated rather than quibbling over a traditional task.
Various software help document attendance and opt for different representation formats for the collected attendance data—for instance, graphical representation, charts, tabular arrangements, etc. However, the goal is to encourage a more straightforward analysis plus a quick grasp of the information. Here are a couple of options:
Biometric System Solutions- BSS
Biometric systems are the most precise and reliable attendance monitoring systems in the educational software market. The system saves the fingerprint of every student/staff member. When they touch their fingertips against the biometric system, they are registered as "present." Since every fingerprint is unique, the possibility of proxy or false attendance is relatively low. Administrators can view this information in real time with the help of integrated school administration software.
Radio Frequency Identification- RFID-Based Attendance Management
Radio frequency identification is a way to track everyone’s attendance rapidly and precisely. The school hands each student a chip card with a unique identity (UID) number. An RFID card scanner sits outside each class or at the school gate. Upon passing through the scanner, students must always have their smart cards. The reader can read many smart cards simultaneously by reading the UID number.
As a result, it is easy to rapidly and accurately track the attendance of many students at a time. Whosoever is responsible retrieves this data through an integrated system for attendance management from the wireless RFID reader. The school management may access the attendance data in a streamlined style and in real-time for multiple sections. The entire process completely takes off the involvement of a teacher in documenting attendance.
Proximity Cards & Badges
These cards monitor a student's movements throughout campus. A reader that wirelessly scans badges or proximity cards are employed to keep track of attendance. The data collected by the reader can easily be accessed through the integrated system.
Web-based Login
When students check in and out using their electronic devices, a web-based login registers their presence or absence. To log in and track their attendance, students can do so using their laptops, desktop PCs, or mobile devices.
Discovering the Methodology of Teachmint’s Attendance Management -How it Works?
Teachmint brings forth an effective way of dealing with attendance management issues in a much more thoughtful and consistent form. You will understand the importance of the attendance management system only when you know the automated options it employs to deal with the task.
- Traditionally, the teacher has been responsible for ensuring class attendance. The entire procedure may now be automated with the help of Teachmint online's attendance tracking software, requiring very few manual inputs from the class teacher.
- Now, slot-wise attendance management is possible. There could be several shifts in a day at some schools. Schools occasionally take students' attendance more than once throughout the day. Three separate time slots are available in Teachmint's attendance tracking software to record daily attendance. Anything that fits the needs of the school may be done using the innovative platform.
- For convenience, Teachmint has created separate student and teacher profiles. While teachers can mark their attendance, the students rely on concerned teachers.
- Teachmint’s student attendance module examines and evaluates students' attendance patterns.
- Biometric attendance for teachers makes integration and implementation of teacher attendance seamless with biometric authentication. Each individual's name is mapped to a specific device ID after completing user mapping. If their biometric authentication is successful, fast capture of the time and date follows the marking of attendance.
Sections on Teachmint Attendance Management Dashboard
To make the platform user-friendly and easy to understand, Teachmint offers the following sections on its attendance management module:
- Attendance Overview
The Attendance overview consists of four columns:
Total students- Number of students enrolled in a class
Total present- Number of students present
Total absent- Number of students absent
Not marked- Students whose attendance needs to be marked. Teachers responsible are nudged in such a case owing to the delay.
- Detailed Report
The detailed form of student attendance reports is available for viewing and downloading. It reduces manual calculations for class teachers and school admins. School admins can monitor the detailed report available in tabulated form. It delivers updates regarding every class and section, the name of the class teacher, and the strength of the class.
- Insights- Classroom Attendance Insights
A single dashboard that includes complete reports for all stakeholders provides an overview of school attendance. The admins will find a pie chart depicting a particular day’s attendance. It also provides information on the number of students with less than 75% attendance.
Understanding the Importance of Attendance Management System
Every school has a vital job: managing attendance. The process assists in keeping track of a school's students, faculty, and service workers. The system for managing attendance was created to make it easier for administrators to monitor employees and pupils. Administrative staff members can save time and money, decrease staff workload, and boost overall productivity.
Through examining student absences, seeking solutions, tracking in real-time, removing redundant data entry, etc., the system aids in managing attendance.
There is an efficient step-by-step way to understand the importance of an attendance management system. Firstly, we will discuss the main issues faced in the absence of it. We will then move on to the ultimate solution that an administrator enjoys in employing these SIS-based attendance management features.
Issue 1: Proxy Attendance
Proxy attendance is fake attendance in lectures. There are various methods that students use, for instance, duplicate signatures and fake shouts of "Yes Sir !" or "Present Sir !".
The leading causes of proxy include-
- To obey the 75 % attendance rule
- To gain fake attendance-based marks
- To run away from lectures
- Refrain from dealing with different subject teachers
Issue Resolved- Thankfully, proxy shouts, buddy punching, and record tampering are eliminated through automated attendance management tool. With an integrated biometric attendance system, there is no scope for proxies. Further, these systems require students to be on time.
Issue 2: Leave Management
Getting leaves for teachers and granting leaves for the school admins has always been a long, step-by-step task in traditional official scenarios. There is a leave application that has to travel from table to table for approval.
Issue Resolved- Cutting short the long leave application process, the attendance management tools have eased the tasks of the administrators of the school and that of teachers as well. They can now easily manage teachers' leaves via using an effective system for attendance management; they can monitor, control, approve, or deny them.
Issue 3: Counting Errors
There is a possibility that the manual attendance system can suffer from counting errors. Often the teachers or the compilers who deal with the attendance sheets can make an unintentional mistake in counting and marking the attendance of students or staff members.
Issue Resolved- There is no possibility of inaccuracy while registering attendance when the procedure is automated. Also, since teachers do not need attendance registers to record student attendance, paperwork reduces.
Issue 4: Inadequate Integration
There are lesser integration features when we talk about manual systems used for attendance management. Besides attendance tracking, no other features are accessible.
Issue Resolved- Integrating the automated system with other applications makes it easier for students, teachers, and administrators. Moreover, the system can be connected with swipe and biometric systems used in administration. Also, different systems for managing attendance records enable institutes to design personalized attendance regulations following their requirements.
Additionally, you can customize the software to your organization's needs or link attendance software with HR and payroll solutions.
Issue 5: Extra Time & Resource Consumption
For manually recording attendance, schools must purchase registers and other stationery items in large quantities. The everyday ritual of attendance receives a lot of attention.
Issue Resolved- Time and money are saved with an automated attendance system. It eliminates the need for paper and lowers the cost of stationery purchases.
Perks of Student Attendance Management Module
The real importance of attendance management system lies in its perks. Every member of an educational institution can benefit from this system. Teachers, students, parents, and school administrators benefit from the digital system to manage attendance equally.
User-Friendly Solution
Teachers can easily record student attendance using the system for attendance management. As a result, the interface is created in a user-friendly manner for the convenience of all members. Also, the technology offers quick and safe data recovery. When implementing any new technology, many teachers need help with understanding the nuances of the software. As a result, an this system aids them in a way that also enables non-technical teachers to use the platform easily.
No Time Theft
When workers attempt to be credited for the time they are not working, it is called time theft. It may involve buddy punching, coming in early or leaving late to get paid for overtime, etc. You know the effects: time card fraud lowers employee satisfaction and costs your organization a lot of money.
When staff and students check in using their fingerprints and location stamps, the Wi-Fi at the workplace, or by taking pictures of themselves on the site using attendance tracking software, it prohibits time-theft practices.
Non-Time Consuming
It takes a lot of time to gather time cards, check them, and process them for payroll, especially if you're in charge of a more extensive strength.
Staff constantly approaches with a request for changes whenever there are things that could be improved with their attendance. The annual time consumption of the admin increases a great deal.
Hence, it is better to avail the alternative efficient and practical solutions for tracking attendance, be it for the staff or for students. It is all the more crucial for students because it helps dedicate the saved time to fostering their learning and education.
No Risk of Human Error
Being human, it's easy for us to make mistakes when manually collecting data. Sometimes, people need to punch in the correct date and time. Inputting accurate data into the attendance spreadsheets is only sometimes done correctly. Parents, students, or staff members may question the lesser number of days marked on the attendance sheet.
There is a reduced likelihood of an error occurring when registering attendance through an automated procedure.
Reporting Made Easy
The technology offers real-time information that aids management in making better choices. Additionally, it enables administrators to look at statistics on an interactive dashboard and download attendance records.
Teachers can create thorough class attendance records using an effecient system for attendance management. You can save and keep these reports for compliance needs. Similarly, the reports include details on student, class, and month-level attendance. Teachers can also obtain recent and older reports.
More Precise Payroll
By removing the possibility of human error, automated attendance software produces more accurate data for payroll. Employees don't have to worry about getting paid wrongly, nor do employers have to worry about compliance difficulties.
Improved Participation, Output, and Effectiveness
Staff can handle being paid correctly if they are confident that your attendance system is accurate and trustworthy. Rather than attempting to game the attendance system, they might concentrate more on their work, production, and efficiency.
Apps for tracking attendance are helpful for managers as well as for the productivity of their staff members. Checking attendance might free up time to focus more on important tasks.
Reduced Resources Cost
An automated attendance system saves time and money. It eliminates using paper and reduces the expenses incurred on purchasing stationeries. Tons of paperwork, registers, and stationery are used in the conventional method of managing attendance. Moreover, they require more room for the used attendance registers. Traditional attendance management tools are pricey due to all these processes and associated expenses.
By implementing an automated system for attendance, the school administration can cut extra costs. Schools can save time and money by utilizing an attendance-specific system. In addition, they can cut down on the costs incurred on stationeries.
Greater Visibility
Users must be given all the information they need at the appropriate moment while managing an educational organization. It guarantees enhanced visibility and supports their ability to take prompt action. Administrators can create reports using a software for attendance management that display information like student presence and absence in a classroom.
Reduced Load on Administrators
Teachers manually calculate each student's attendance rate. This takes up much time and forces them to perform unnecessary activities. This redundancy hampers the organization's overall productivity. Teachers' workloads can be reduced using an ideal system for attendance management because the system automatically gathers data and produces reports. To determine attendance percentages in their classrooms, teachers can now skip through the pages of attendance registers.
Ease of Compliance
Each school has its own set of attendance-related guidelines. Schools' compliances are fulfilled with the help of a student attendance management tool. Teachers can feel at peace and concentrate more on production and teaching.
Examine Analytics
The worlds of business and non-business are both heavily influenced by analytics nowadays. Schools use the analytics report created by the software for attendance management to gain recent insights into the attendance pattern. Teachers' and administrators' jobs are made more accessible by the dashboard's clear data representation.
Key Takeaways
Every educational institution now uses an effective system for attendance management as a necessary component. Also, this management system has become more critical to schools due to the increased demand for online education.
These systems for managing attendance is capable of the following simple tasks.
- The use of gadgets, including mobile phones, to check the attendance status
- Keep track of the attendance of both students and teachers.
- Marks present or absent status
- Note the start and end times of the workday.
- Generation of reports
Management of attendance has always been a crucial component of ERP systems. This system must be used in schools for educators to understand its value and how it can lighten their workload.
Improper attendance management can cause a chain of events that can push the entire educational system into disorder. With an all-encompassing software for attendance management, the procedure can be easy to understand, adhere to, and carry out with almost no room for error. This is the ideal time to begin adopting an Integrated School Platform, where learning and teaching meet school management, as schools race to become NEP 2020 compliant as soon as possible.
Learn more about Teachmint plans here.
