Maintenance of School Records

Maintenance of School Records

   Registers and records form the core of any organization. They provide deep insight into the state and status of the organization. A school is no exception. We maintain so many records to keep track on the events going on in school.

Admission Register:

      It is a record of all the pupils who are admitted to a school. According to departmental rules, the admission register is to be preserved permanently in the school. Therefore, it is essential that it should be got specially bound and kept in safe custody.  It is to be free from mistakes because this register is at times required by superior authorities in a court of law as an evidence for the date of birth of the pupils.  At the time of admission pupil submit their relevant records like birth certificate, TC etc. along with their application. All these papers are to be carefully preserved and entered in the admission register.  The admission register should contain the following items.

—  (i) The serial number and name of the pupil.

—  (ii) His father's name, caste, occupation and address.

—  (iii) His date of birth.

—  (iv) Date of admission to the school,

—  (v) The class to which he is admitted.

—  (vi) Dale of withdrawal or migration from the school.

—  Attendance register

This is another important register which is maintained in each class and section, showing

—  The names of the pupils on the roll of the class or section, during a month.

—  The attendance is marked in the beginning of the school hour.

—  Entries should be made in ink.

—   Blanks should not be left.

—  Students who remain absent from the school without leave for fifteen consecutive attendance is struck off from the rolls.

—   Holidays are marked in red ink.

—  Its main function as its name suggests is to show the presence and absence of every student enrolled in the class.

Besides this it also provides us with many other details like Students’ address, admission number details for quick reference, different categories of children present in a class and their back ground and thus guides us in planning a lesson in accordance with the differences. It involves calculations like average daily attendance.

Rules and procedures:

—  An attendance register is to be kept in the place provided for it in the office after the use.

—  Everyday attendance is to be taken before the assembly and after the break without fail.

—  Any absence of a student beyond 10 days has to be brought to the notice of the principal.

—  Procedure for taking attendance is to ‘Call the roll’,’ conform’ and ‘mark’. No overwriting under any circumstance is allowed.

—  Every month end monitoring sheets like enrolment position, fee collection details category wise split up of strength details are to be filled in and a counter sign from principal is to be taken.

—  The presence of a student is marked with ‘p’, absent with ‘a’ and leave with ‘L’.

—  In case a child was given present though is not physically present because of administrative reasons e.g. in the case of result preparation days the presence is marked as dot.

—  If a child is absent for more than 15 days [excluding medical cases] his name will be struck off and a Re admission is granted after payment of readmission fee. A readmitted child’s name appears at the last.

—  Leave up to two days duration is granted by Class Teacher and leave beyond that limit has to be authorized by the principal.

—  The class teacher is solely responsible for the maintenance of the Attendance register

The School Calendar

The school calendar is a mirror where the probable dates of various events and activities to be done during the coming session are reflected. It is usually prepared at the beginning of each academic session. It should contain the following Stems of information.

—  (i) Information about the general, local and gazette holidays.

—  (ii) Dates for the submission of monthly, quarterly, holidays and annual reports and returns.

—  (iii) Dates of monthly, quarterly and annual examinations.

—  (iv) Dates of the meetings of the school and faculty committees, Teachers' Associations, different societies, school excursions and educational tours, school tournaments etc.

—  (v) Dates of important school functions like the annual prize day, the parents day.

—   Thus the school calendar provides important information about various activities to be carried out throughout the academic session.

Log Book:

It should contain a complete record of the important events that occur during the session. It should also contain the history of the school of a particular year. Information like the introduction of new text books or apparatus, visits of the inspecting officers, changes in the school routine, absence or illness of any of the official staff etc., should be written in the Log Book.  The Log Book is specifically designed for the purpose of containing remarks of the school inspector or other important officers of the education department, who pay an official visit to the school. But it should not be confined to the remarks of the inspecting officers only. The headmaster is the only authority to make entries in this book.

Teacher's Attendance Register:

To record the daily attendance of the teachers, schools maintain the teacher's attendance register. This shows the time of arrival and departure of the teachers on each day. The teachers are to sign regularly in the forenoon and afternoon everyday. Time of arrival of the late comers should be indicated. Leave taken by the teachers during the month holidays etc., are to be written on it. It should be kept outside the room of the headmaster. When the first period starts, it should go to the headmaster for verification.

Cash Book:

Cash Book is a record of all money transactions occurring from day-to-day in the school. Money received by the school from different sources like fees, fines, donations, stipends, scholarships, grant-in-aid are entered on the credit side. On the debit side the payments like the salaries of the teachers, stipends, scholarships, contingent expen­diture incurred, deposits made in the Treasury, bank and post office are shown. Balance is shown in red ink. It should be regularly written and the day's business should be closed with the signature of -the headmaster. It should be an up-to-date record

Cumulative Record Cards:

It is a document in which the relevant information about particular students at one educational institution is recorded cumulatively. This gives a complete and growing picture of the individual student, which helps him during his long stay at the school and at the time of leaving it, in the solution of his manifold problems of educational, vocational; personal and social.  It follows the pupil from class to class and from school. It provides an opportunity to have a comprehen­sive picture of the all-round development of the personality of the child. It is a very important record which should be maintain in every school.

 Stock Register

This register keeps information of all the movable property of the school. While purchasing equipment or furniture, it must be duly entered in this property register. The head of the institution should check this register physically at least once in a year. Verification report should be recorded in the stock register. It can show which articles are missing and which need immediate repairs. The register should contain the following information :

—  (i) Name of the article.

—  (ii) Quantity of the articles.

—  (iii) Date of purchase.

—  (iv) Name of the firm which supplied the articles.

—  (v) The authority ordering purchase,

—  (vi) Signature of the authority.

Fee register

When pupils pay fee, the details of the payment entered  in a register and receipt issued to the that effect. The fees are handed over to the office in time. Fee concession and scholarships are also sometimes granted to pupils. Record for the same also maintained.

Timetable record

 The teachers should learn the process of constructing a class timetable. Class time table, teacher’s time table and master time table are drawn in most of the school. Time table can also be made for sports and games, home works, etc.

Examination registers

 After examination, the marks and progress of the pupil entered in a register. The class teacher should exercise great care in entering the marks. The signature of the headmaster should also be obtained in this register after every examination.

Correspondence registers

All relevant letters received from parents as well as replies sent to these should be recorded. Orders, circulars and notices are also be safely kept in files.

Purchase records

When articles are bought receipts, vouchers, cash memo etc. should be obtained and keep in the office for future reference. These have to be produced at the time of audit.

Registers regarding parents

The authorities may invite the parents of the pupil on all important occasions and this register is very helpful to the teachers at this time

Progress report

After every examination a detailed report about the progress of a student is sent to the parents. This is done either by a progress report card or in school dairy.

Visitors’ book

During the course of an academic year, a number of important visitors, inspectors and guests pay visit to the school. Their opinions and suggestions may be very helpful for improving the working of the institution.

Reports to the Parents:

To get cooperation from the parents reports containing various information about the child should be sent to the parents periodically. It should contain information like the academic progress of the child, his health condition, participation in curricular and co-curricular activities and other important information. As a result, the parents can know the physical, intellectual, social, moral and emotional growth of their children. Parents are also requested to guide their children according to the information given in the report.

Service Book:

The service book contains the service history of the employees. Information like the employee's date of appointment, his date of birth, educational qualifications, identification marks, permanent home address, transfer, leave accounts, date of increments, reversion if any of reinstatement etc., are carefully written in this book. The original service book is kept in the custody of the headmaster in the secondary school. The authorities should duly verify the service book and make necessary entries. The first page of the service book contains the following information :

—  1. Name

—  2. Residence.

—  3. Date of birth by Christian era as nearly as can be ascertained.

—  4. Educational qualification.

—  5. Exact height by measurement.

—  6. Personal mark for identification.

—  7. Father's name and residence.

—  8. Left hand thumb and finger impression.

—  9. Signature of the teacher.

—  10. Date of entry into service.

—  11. Signature of the Headmaster.

From the next page the name of the post, temporary or permanent, monthly pay, date of increment, details of leave account etc., are written neatly. The entries of the first page should be renewed or re-attested at least every five years except in the case of finger prints.