EdSys is designed to manage independent academic institutions as well as consolidate specific data at a central location so that adequate control can be exercised in managing a group of institutions. The system also provides a facility to roll out various data segments from a central location to an individual academic institution. For example, all the information on the fee collection and expenditure is consolidated centrally. The information about teachers, staff and their activities can also be controlled centrally. The EdSys follows School Interoperability Framework (SIF) a US standard, which stipulates the framework for data consolidation and data exchange amongst schools.
Salient Features
Centralized roll out of critical and control information.
Consolidation and report generation at a central location.
User configurable reports with rule engine.
Follows SIF standards.
Student data
The system captures detailed information about the students in the institution. The information clusters captured are:
Salient Features
Personal details of student
Details of guardian
Details of parents
Information of previous school
Statutory information
Awards and achievements
Emergency contact details
The system is also capable of exchanging details through XML formats as per SIF definitions.
Teacher data
EdSys captures detailed information about the teachers for enabling an appropriate selection process and allocation of teaching responsibilities as per course and grade. The information clusters captured are:
Salient Features
Personal details of teachers.
Detailed information on previous experience.
Awards and achievements.
Information on the allocated course and grade.
Information on other responsibilities allocated to the teacher
Status report on pending tasks pertaining to the teacher.
Each teacher can access the appropriate information including access to the allocated responsibilities through a teacher's portal. Each teacher may have a different portal according to the responsibilities and authorizations.
Course definitions
EdSys has the facility to define multiple courses. All courses need to have a reference to an academic year. The courses need not start and end in the same academic year. The following types of sessions in a course are handled in EdSys.
Salient Features
Full Year
Semester
Trimester
Quarter
Quinmester
Mini-term
Summer Session
Long session, which is longer than a semester or quarter or trimester, but shorter than a full year
There can be conditions for promotions from one session to the next, using which the students are moved from one session to another. The students who do not satisfy the conditions can be either terminated or retained in the same session.
Student Locker Allocation
Admissions
EdSys provides the facility for online applications to the courses offered by the academic institution. Suitable payment gateways can be integrated with the systems for enabling paid downloads of prospectus and application forms. In order to gather more information on the applicant, specific surveys can be hosted and directed to specific prospective students. Once the admission is completed, all the relevant data is backed up and the student information transferred from the admission module to the student data module.
Internal Assessment
Internal Assessment is a process of carrying out different types of assessment activities on a subject for a defined term. Multiple rules of assessment can be impressed upon each cluster of activities. In order to bring in uniformity to the assessment process, it is recommended that the same grading scale and assessment rule be used. The internal assessment value can be in terms of percentage marks or a point in the grading scale. This value is transferred to the course assessment process. In addition to centrally allocated internal assessment activities, the teacher-defined activities can also be attached for assessing a subject.
Assessment Rules
A Course may be divided into multiple terms and each term maybe assessed. There is a facility for creating multiple rules of assessment. These rules may be applied to each activity cluster pertaining to a subject or a group of subjects. The following rules are configured in the system. These rules can be used for promoting a student from one session to the next.
Salient Features
Mean
Mode
Median
Percentage
Weighted average
EdSys also provides the facility to define multiple grading scales with respect to ranges of percentage marks. The grading scale can be applied on the percentage marks obtained by a student to arrive at the grade. Each grade has is also assigned a number, used for any calculations using only the grade. A teacher may use the grading scale instead of marks to assess an activity.
Course Assessment
Course assessment is a process of consolidating the assessments done on various subjects and other activities, which are evaluated. The centrally defined grading scale and rules of assessment are used for conducting the course assessment. The results of internal assessment are automatically transferred to the course assessment process. The course assessment can be done for each term. The overall /final course assessment can be used for determining whether a student has successfully completed the course.
Clubs and Student bodies
The Institution may have many clubs and student bodies. EdSys provides a facility to create specific interaction screens for these bodies to be monitored by the designated personnel. The respective body will have its own home page and a few facilities like announcements etc. The provision for membership requests is provided and the target population configured with which the member shop can be automatically granted. Online Elections can be configured at the portal. Each club or student body has to have a Teacher associated with it as a mentor. In case the activities are to be used as an evaluation item for the student, then the respective mentor can create assessment activities based on which the students are evaluated. Rules of assessment can be applied in this case also. Using the application KNOWS which is a knowledge management package, more features can be added like a web site for the body, bulletin board, notice board, chat, mailboxes etc.
House Activities
Almost all Institutions have houses into which students are allocated. A large number of activities are defined on the basis of the houses. And the points for each house calculated to find out the position of the house. This has a reflection in the academic, cultural, sports and other activities. As many teams may be created on the basis of houses and inter house competitions etc may be held. EdSys provides extensive features to manage the activities based on houses.
Extracurricular Activities
Extra curricular activities are defined as the activities that are carried out as an addendum to academics. These are normally not evaluated and may be carried out by external agencies. In addition, these activities may be a paid service for the students. The system provides a facility to capture the details of the agencies that conduct these programs and the eligibility as well as the schedules. The fees may be collected at spot or through the monthly fee collection process.
Student Administration (Reprimands, achievements etc)
The student administration facilitates the management of features, which are not covered by other modules. This includes the EdSys has the provision to input the details of reprimands
The system helps the users to define each sports and games item and the associated information. Teams can be defined and the required information on the kits and liveries & its issue to team members, competitions, position obtained etc are captured in EdSys. The system monitors the activities in multiple levels of teams on the same sporting item. For example; the information about the House teams and their inter-house matches are captured and the results are pumped into the House activity area.
Logistics, Parking
EdSys has extensive facilities to manage the logistics of the students. Details of the bus routes and the boarding & alighting information are captured. The data on the crew and their duty rosters can be made. The distance information and the related billing information can be transferred to the fee management system. In addition, EdSys also facilitates the allocation of parking lots to Teachers, other Staff and Students. This can be a charged or conditionally charged parking lot. The fees can be transferred either to the respective salary slips or monthly fees.
Attendance Management
EdSys manages the attendance of students, teachers and staff through respective screens. The attendance of the students can be taken in three different modes; namely per period, per day and morning and afternoon sessions. The designated teachers have the authorization to fill in the data on attendance of the students. EdSys also provides the facility to mark the attendance of the participants in sports and other activities. Consolidated attendance reports can also be used for grading.
Fees Management
In EdSys multiple fee structures can be defined and implemented. The fee collection can be configured for a month or for a year. The fees can be defined as one time or recurring. The one time fee can also be split into a number of installments. It is possible to attach fees that are levied on extra curricular activities, club activities, sports and games etc. The fee collection is recorded and passed on to the accounting module. It is possible to impose fines on late payment of fees and to carry forward the unpaid amount to the next bill or retain the bill as partly paid.
Library
Library management has been extensively dealt with in EdSys. Multiple libraries can be managed with the same system. The system has the facility to manage catalogs, lending, fines, advance booking, and inter library transfers. Detailed information about the books, publishers and the suppliers are maintained. The books are classified according to standard attributes and the user can define the additional attributes. For example an attribute for grade can be made attached to a book. In case required, the issue of the book can be restricted according to the grade of the student. The software takes the Library standard "MARC" as reference. AACR2 catalogue cards can also be created. The books can be bar coded. The library membership card can be printed and issued with bar-coded membership numbers. The issue of books can be aided using these bar codes. The status of the loaned books, due dates and status of the book reservation can be obtained through the respective portal.
Portals for Student / Teacher
The users of EdSys communicate with the system through portals. EdSys consists of a multitude of modules and they are clustered into services. Each user can be attached with services that pertain to them. Therefore each user will have a different portal content. EdSys has detailed access control implemented into it. Every user is allowed to access the services or parts of services allocated to them. Other services will be transparent to them. The portals are also used for communication. It also has advertisements and announcement spaces. Links to other pages or RSS feeds can be given.
Communication
EdSys provides multiple systems for communication amongst the users. The internal mailing system is primarily used for indicating the system alerts and warnings. It can also be used for sending mails to other users individually or in groups. There are several approval processes built in to the system and automatic transfer of control is carried out. The add-on software KNOWS which deals with knowledge management and communication provides a multi layer communication facility in the system.
Hostel Information
The information about students who use the hostel facilities is taken into the system. Room allocation, the hostel and mess fee management, etc are managed using it. The procurement process for the hostel mess can also be controlled using EdSys. The system also tracks the assets in the student hostel and allocates the assts to the individual students. Fines and other penalties are managed using the system. The fees etc can be either paid independently or sent as part of the monthly fee bill.
Teacher Task Management
Every teacher can be allocated with tasks in addition to their teaching assignment using the task management system in EdSys. Other staff can also be brought under this. Reporting hierarchy needs to be created and the tasks routed using the hierarchy. It is possible to provide a feed back on the task completion by the people in the higher levels of hierarchy. The tasks may be allocated by the person himself or the reporting officer. The execution status of the tasks can also be recorded in the system. This helps in closely monitoring all activities other than the academic activities. The latter is managed through other systems in EdSys.
Student Book Store
In almost all schools the student bookstall acts as an agency for distribution of books and related materials to the students. The book store may be an actual store wherein the books and other items are sold or a virtual store which does not have a sales outlet but the students collect the material as and when necessary. EdSys allows the consolidation of the transactions either through spot billing or through the monthly fee bill.
School Canteen
Appropriate interfaces are created in EdSys to handle the school canteen. The canteen- billing interface allows spot billing. The procurement action also can be managed through the system. In case required the billing amount can be transferred to the monthly fee bill. Menu can be created and published through the personal portal. Appropriate statutory reports can be taken from the system.
Procurement module
Procurement module in EdSys helps to centralize all procurement activities in the academic institution. The requirements can be placed on the procurement cell by various agencies consolidated and the procurement action initiated. The procured material is stored in the school warehouse and can be issued to appropriate persons as deemed. The stock reports are generated in the system.
Salary Module
The salary module in EdSys manages the salary of all staff and teachers. In addition all part time employees and other types of engagements can be managed in the system. Appropriate income tax calculations can also be impressed upon.
Asset Management
EdSys has a facility to manage the assets in detail. Each asset is tracked as per its location, the person / Department it is issued to, date of procurement etc. The reports on aging, damages etc are generated by the system. Requisition for asset procurement can be placed through the system, which undergoes an approval process.
Basic Accounting Module
EdSys has a basic accounting module, which does all the basic accounting activities. It has a budget module which tracks the budget preparation and utilization. The system provides interface to major accounting systems for detailed accounting through XML data exchange formats.