Virtusa Corporation, the Sri Lankan-led global IT services company that offers a broad spectrum of business consulting and outsourcing services, has initiated an innovative programme to assist schools with an effective mechanism to manage daily activities involved in running a school.
A team from Virtusa designed and developed a JAVA based fully integrated and comprehensive online application, utilising the latest technology to facilitate a new managerial experience for both the school and parents. The system manages key school processes and creates dashboards of a school's performance. The principal, teachers and parents can view the student progress online via the system, according to a company media release.
"The School Management System introduced by Virtusa is guaranteed to change the landscape of administration within schools around the country. It is easy to implement and adopt and will undoubtedly be a fantastic managerial tool to aid principals, teachers and parents in planning and prioritising classes, lesson plans and many more. Time spent on manual administration of daily activities can be cut down tremendously and all energy can be focused on improving the child's education," noted Rev. Fr. Sylvester Ranasinghe, Rector of St. Joseph's the first school in Sri Lanka to use the system.
The School Management System (SMS) known as 'AKURA' allows easy and centralised access to student information such as their schedule, disciplinary records, extracurricular activities, report cards, attendance, grades, etc., as well as teacher information such as experience, schedules, etc. Whilst the administrative authority solely lies with a dedicated person at the school, parents can log in and view information on their children and teachers.
"Technology is about making life easier and saving time. As IT leaders in the country it is our responsibility to share our global knowledge and skills to improve society through the application of advanced technology. AKURA is such an initiative, to help enhance the educational environment in the country," said Charles Sudharshan Jayawardena, Project Manager of AKURA, Virtusa.
Apart from being implemented at St. Joseph's College, AKURA has also been adopted by many of the leading schools in Colombo such as St. Thomas' College, Royal College, Nalanda College St. Peter's College, Zahira College and D S Senanayake College so far, and will soon be deployed at Isipathana College, Methodist College, Holy Family Convent, St. Bridget's Convent, Bishops College and St. Anthony's College Katugasthota.
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