School management system: 7 tasks to digitise first

Running a school is not only about teaching. Enrolment, school fees, timetables, grades, attendance, communication with families: the office and the leadership team juggle dozens of tasks every day. The good news is that most of them can be digitised. Here are the 7 tasks to hand over first to a school management system, and what you gain from each.

1. Enrolment and student records

No more paper forms and copied lists. Student records (identity, class, parents, history) are centralised and available in one click. Existing lists can be imported from an Excel file, and an enrolment link lets families fill in their details themselves.

Gain: a new school year without queues, and records that are always up to date.

2. School fees and accounting

Payment tracking is often the most sensitive task. The software records every payment, works out the balance due per student and per family, and issues receipts. Parents can pay online by card, PayPal or Mobile Money, and receive a reminder when a payment is overdue.

Gain: fewer unpaid fees, and accounts you can check in minutes.

3. Timetables

Slots by class, subjects, teachers, recess: the timetable is built once, checked for overlaps, then shared with everyone. Class sessions follow directly from it.

Gain: a single up-to-date version, no more conflicting charts.

4. Grades and report cards

Teachers enter their grades; averages, rankings and report cards are calculated automatically, then published to families. Every report card carries a QR code that lets anyone check that it is genuine.

Gain: class councils prepared in hours instead of days.

5. Absences and late arrivals

Attendance is taken in class, for each session. Absences and late arrivals are centralised, excused by the school and carried over automatically to the report card.

Gain: reliable attendance tracking, with no register to count again.

6. Communication with families

A parent portal gives access to grades, report cards, absences and payments. Built-in messaging lets parents talk to teachers without sharing personal phone numbers.

Gain: fewer calls to the office, and better-informed parents.

7. Organising the team

Each staff member gets access suited to their role: the accountant sees accounting, the supervisor sees attendance, the teacher sees their classes. Permissions can be set in detail, and grade changes are logged.

Gain: everyone works on what concerns them, securely.

Where to start?

There is no need to digitise everything at once. Start with the task that costs you the most time (often payments or report cards), train the team, then add the other modules over the year. A dashboard then gives you the big picture: enrolment, attendance, payments and results.

Zaame, the all-in-one school management software

Zaame brings these 7 tasks together in a single online platform, available on a computer or a phone. It is used by schools, institutes and universities in Africa and Europe. The Basic plan is free for up to 39 students per academic year; the other plans are on the Pricing page.

See all of Zaame’s features, or create your free account to digitise your school today.