Virtual vigil in schools

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Rather than sitting for hours listening to long-winded lectures, appearing for monstrous examinations and facing the rebuke of parents, many students would opt to bunk school. On the other side are parents who weave dreams on their children’s education and future. Still, it is doubtful whether these expectations are in tune with the talent possessed by the kid who is at the receiving end. ‘EduAlert’, a talent enrichment software, promises to address these worries and concerns. Barely a month and a half old, the software is turning out to be a big hit in the few city schools, where it has been implemented.‘EduAlert’ works in three steps - creating awareness among students, networking among students with similar interests, and familiarising them with industrial standards. In its first phase, ‘EduAlert’ amasses the details of students and creates a profile in terms of their academic and non-academic talents. The software then identifies the particular area of interest of a student, enabling him/her to set career goals and nurture the innate talents. A feedback will be sent to the parents regrading the performance of the students. The software sends timely alert to parents on the activities at school such as attendance, examination, co-curricular activities and parent-teacher meetings.Says S Krishnamoorthy, director of ARR Public School , Nettayam, “With the implementation of ‘EduAlert’ in the school, there has been a constant interaction between the parents and the school authorities. Alerts on student activities reach the parents on time so that they can keep track on the activities of their children.” The school, with an overall strength of 1700 students, has implemented it in all classes from kindergarten to higher secondary.According to the director, after the software implementation, the attendance recorded for a day is sent to the parents before 12 noon. So that students would strictly attend the classes. He also points out that now the children cannot hide their performance in school from the parents as they are updated on time. He also says that the inclination of students towards anti-social activities are also monitored. “Being a less-expensive medium, it is highly result oriented and useful. In further stages we would concentrate more on providing apt guidelines to help students choose the right profession in future,” he adds.A Abdul Salam, father of Amal Mohammed, a fourth standard student says: “A regular update on the academics of the child is very useful. Its advantage is that the child’s activities are easily monitored.” Rajeevnath V, founder and CEO of EduAlert Services Private Limited says that even in students possessing strong academic credentials, a decline in practical skills is noticed. “It happens as a result of underexposure to industrial standards. Scarcity in skilled labour is now a major concern in many industries. ‘EduAlert’ tries to diminish these issues,” he says.