How to setup your school management setup using free and open source software

Overview :

Today's digital technology makes running a school a very difficult undertaking. However, schools may streamline their operations and make the entire process much more effective and efficient with the aid of free and open-source software. A computer programmer or collection of programmed called "school management software" are made to manage several parts of a school or other educational institution.The main objectives of school management software are to streamline operations, automate administrative activities, and increase overall effectiveness.

Student information management, attendance monitoring, grading, report generating, handling fees and expenses, and other capabilities are some of the main ones found in school administration software. Some school administration software may have capabilities for organizing extracurricular activities like clubs and sports as well as features for facilitating communication between students, instructors, and parents.

1) Identify Your School’s needs :

It is essential to ascertain your institution's demands before installing a school management system to make sure the software satisfies all of your institution's requirements. You can use the following procedures to determine whether your school requires the installation of school administration software:

1) Evaluation of Current Process: The first step is to evaluate your school's current procedures to run its business. This includes procedures for managing student information, monitoring attendance, grading, and producing reports, among others.

2) Determine areas in need of development: Determine areas for improvement after evaluating the current procedures. This might involve finding ways to automate manual processes, boost productivity, or enhance data accuracy.

3) Determining specific requirements: Based on the areas for improvements, determine the specific requirements that a school management software must meet. This includes features such as student information management, fees handling, attendance tracking, and more.

4) Involve Key stakeholders: It is important to involve stakeholders in the process of identify the needs of your school. This includes teachers, administrators, parents, and students. Their input can help to ensure that the software meets the needs of everyone involved in the educational process.

5) Evaluate budget and resources: Finally, evaluate the budget and resources available for the implementations of a school management software. This includes the cost of software, the cost of hardware and other resources, and the cost of training and support.

By following these steps, you can ensure that your school’s needs for a school management software setup are identified.

2) Choose an Open-Source School Management software :

There are many open-source school management software available that you can choose from, including Defended, Opens Is, School tool, and Scholastic. You can do a simple internet search to find a comprehensive list of open-source school management software and select the one that best meets your school's requirements. 

Here are some Key factors to consider when choosing open-source school management software:

1) Features and functionality: Evaluate the features and functionality offered by the software to ensure that it meets the specific needs of your school. Consider features such as student information management, attendance tracking, grading, and more.

2) Customization: Open-Source software is highly customization, which allows you to modify the software to meet the specific requirements of your school. Consider the level of customization required for your school and whether the software provides the tools and resources needed.

3) User-Friendliness: The software should be user-friendly and easy for teachers and administrators. Consider the interface, navigation, and overall ease of use of the software.

4) Technical Support: Technical Support is critical for the successful implementation of any software. Consider the level of technical Support offered by the software provider and the availability of online resources and forums.

5) Community and development: An active and supportive community of users and developers can be an important resource for the success of open-source software. Consider the level of community Support and development for the software.

By Considering these key factors, you can choose an open-source school management software that meets the specific needs of your school and provides a cost-effective and flexible solution for your school management software setup.

3) Choose SCHOLASTIC School Management software :

SCHOLASTIC is the modern School management software system for running any type of Educational institute. It bundles unified communication and school management features for forward-thinking educational institutes worldwide. It features complete business process automation and integration of communication technologies like voice calls and text messaging to connect school teachers, conduct call-based questions, and do real-time surveys.

Some Key Features of SCHOLASTIC are:

1) User-Friendly: CIT-School system provides user-friendly dashboards with login access for the Admin, teacher, non teaching staff, parents, and management personnel of your institution.

2) Unified communication: SCHOLASTIC developed over CORRECT unified communication platform. It empowers school management with business and communication automation and better interactions and connections with parents.

3) Safe and Secure: SCHOLASTIC is designed to operate at a high level of security that could be customized to meet your needs. Admin can allow specific permission to different users.

4) High-quality Attendance system: SCHOLASTIC provides a high-quality attendance system that allows teachers to take students' attendance from a mobile application. An automated attendance system is used by teachers, which has made teacher work easy and fast.

5) Mulch-Branches: The administration can easily monitor the branch status, how many students are absent or present today, check income and expenses reports, and paid and defaulter student lists of each branch from the admin portal.

6) Results and Reports: The report is communication information about student achievement and progress. Report to students, parents and carers, and teachers, and the system helps decision-making for future student learning.

4) Install the SCHOLASTIC Software :

Installing SCHOLASTIC software for school management can provide an effective and efficient solution for managing students information, tracking attendance, and generating reports. This open-source software can be installed on a server or a local machine and is highly customization to meet the specific needs of your school. First, we will outline the steps for installing Scholastic software for school management.

1) System requirements: before installing Scholastic. software, ensure that your system meets the minimum requirement for the software. This includes the operating system, memory, and storage requirements and any other requirements specified by the software provider.

2) Download the software: Download the latest version of Scholastic. software from the official website or the source code repository.

3)Install the software: Follow the installation instruction provided with the software, which may involve the unzipping of software dependencies and running an installation wizard. During the installation, you may be prompted to enter information such as location to install the software and database credentials.

4) Configure the software: After installation, configure the software according to your school's specific needs. This may involve setting up user accounts, defining classes and courses, and configuring attendance tracking and grading modules.

5) Import data: If you have existing data, you can import this data into the Scholastic. software. This can save time and ensure that all necessary information is available in the software. Otherwise create new database and save it.

6) Test the Software: Before using it, it is important to test it to ensure it is working correctly. This may involve running test cases, checking data inputs and outputs, and verifying the accuracy of reports generated by the software.

Installing Scholastic. software for school management can provide a cost-effective and flexible solution for managing students information, tracking attendance, and generating reports.

5) Set up the Database :

Setting up a database is an important step in the process of setting up a school management software system. The database will store all of the data that the software will need to function, such as student information, graded, fees, and attendance records.

Here are the general steps to setup the database for school management software system:

1) Choose a database management system: There are several database management systems availability, including, MYSELF, SQLite, MariaDB. Choose the database management system that best meets the needs of your school and the software you are using.

2) Install the database management system: Install the database management system on the server or local machine where the school management software will be installed.

3) Create a database: Create new database for the school management software. This may involve using a graphical user interface or running SQL commands to create the database and setup the necessary tables and fields.

4) Configure database access: Configure the software to access the database, which may involve setting the database connection details in a configuration file or in the software setting.

5) Test database Connectivity: test the database connectivity to ensure that the software can access the database and retrieve data as expected.

) Configure the Software :

Configuring Scholastic. Software for school management is an important step in getting the software up and running. This involves setting up the software to meet the specific needs of your school, such as setting up classes, courses, and modules such as attendance tracking and grading. Here are the general steps to configure Scholastic. software for school management:

1) Setup user accounts: Create user accounts for teachers, administrators, and other staff members who will be using the software. Assign appropriate permissions and roles to each user to control access to different features and functions within the software.

2) Define classes and courses: Define the classes and courses that are offered by your school and set up the corresponding data in the software. This may involve entering information such as class names, schedules, and teacher assignments.

3) Configure module: Configure the various modules within the software, such as attendance tracking and grading. This may involve setting up parameters such as the grading scale, attendance policies, and report configurations.

4) Test the software: Test the software to ensure that it is configured correctly and meets the needs of your school. This may involve running test cases, checking data inputs and outputs, and verifying the accuracy of reports generated by the software.

7) Conclusion :

Setting up a school management system using free and open-source software is a cost-effective and efficient way to manage a school. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can easily set up a school management system that meets your school's needs and helps streamline the entire process.