Best School Management Software in Nigeria 2021 Reviews & Pricing
School management systems are designed and developed to help educational institutions better manage routine operations. In Nigeria it has become imperative that schools use a software management system
Such operations include enrolling students, managing student data, producing reports, managing attendance, fees and finances and facilitating communication between students, parents and staff.
School management systems are broadly classified based on whether they are on-premise or cloud-based.
On premise solutions are hosted on computers or servers within school premises while cloud-based solutions are remotely hosted and accessible via the World Wide Web.
While both on-premise and cloud-based solutions have their pros and cons, cloud-based solutions have become increasingly popular in Nigeria and across Africa owing to the increase in internet penetration.
A review of the top 5 cloud-based school management systems in Nigeria was carried out and the findings are as follows:
Quick School Manager
Quick School Manager is a cloud-based school management system that easily automates all school activities, saves time and money and makes managing educational institutions easy and efficient.
Quick School Manager is easy to use and has features for automating routine school activities.
It also has modules for managing students, staff and parents and facilitating communication across all school stakeholders.
With over 50 “how to” videos showing how to perform most tasks, it is relatively easy for new schools to get up and running with Quick School Manager.
- Free plan: Yes (Free for 30 students and below)
- Pricing model: Annual subscription
- Price plans: QSM Pro – N144,000 per annum (unlimited students) & QSM Pro Plus – N180,000/annum (unlimited students)
Schools Focus
School Focus is a school management system whose aim is to build reputable school brands, raise productivity and manage school operations more efficiently.
They offer better and easier class management, better communication and insight, help in reducing the school’s workload.
Their goal is to provide a one-stop solution for schools and to help them adopt a digital-oriented culture with greater ease.
They also provide schools with a free school website and assist in school marketing.
The price plans termly for its standard advanced and premium per students are N350, N550 and N750, while that of yearly for the same package are N1,000, N1,500 and N2,000
- Free plan: Yes (Free for 50 students and below)
- Pricing model: Per student
BlueBic
BlueBic empowers Educators to build fast-growing, efficient, and stress-free schools, by combining all tools necessary for running a modern school into one platform that is simple, flexible, and reliable.
Via a comprehensive dashboard and robust notification system, BlueBic provides easy access to the information school administrators need and prides itself on simplicity, flexibility and reliability.
BlueBic provides a wide range of features targeted at specific personas such as teachers, students, parents and administrators.
- Free plan: None
- Pricing model: information unavailable
- Price plans: information unavailable
SAF SMS
SAF SMS prides itself as the school management system that is simple, affordable and flexible.
It aims to drive students’ learning experience, enhance parents’ engagement, improve teachers’ productivity and reduce cost while raising efficiency.
SAF SMS has modules and features for records management, finance management, grading, assessments, timetables, expenses and inventory to name a few.
- Free plan: None
- Pricing model: information unavailable
- Price plans: information unavailable
School Software Pro
School software Pro is an all-in-one solution for schools (primary and secondary), groups of schools as well as colleges, polytechnics and universities.
The product’s aim is to manage the entire lifecycle of a student from admission to alumni.
School Software Pro has 53+ features to Teach, Learn, Examine and Manage Employees, Students, Parents and Administrators.
The price plan for per term and yearly for 200 students & below are N65,000 and N170,000 respectively, while that of unlimited students remains N100,000 and N270,000 per term and year respectively
- Free plan: None
- Pricing model: Annual and termly subscriptions
Features of a good school management software
Schools all around the globe are drastically switching from manual school management system to automated school management system. Basically a good school management system tackles all aspect of management and gives users access to school’s information. Instead of investing whole day in searching a record in bunch of paper files, online school management system allows users to access school’s information with just few clicks.
Nowadays many companies are offering school management system. Identifying the right solution for your education institution is not an easy task. Every education institution has different requirements and very few companies offer customized solution based on school’s specific needs. However few features are crucial for every school management system.
Here are few elements that every school management system must have:
· Attendance Management
Conducting student’s attendance daily and maintaining the monthly/yearly attendance record is a very frustrating and time-taking task for all teachers. Attendance Module, significant feature of school management system saves teacher’s time by making attendance marking process easier. Complete students and teachers attendance details are stored in the database so finding the attendance record is no more difficult.
· Electronic Messages and Reminders
Instead of using whiteboard for spreading the notices, school management system include electronic notice boards. With just one click the message is spread to all users. Administrators can posts notices regarding latest events, fee updates, examinations, co-curricular activities etc. Users also have the privileges to give comments or raise queries regarding notices. Administrators can tackle all their queries online. Traditional Whiteboard create invisible hierarchies that can be avoided through this advanced electronic messages system. Along with Electronic Messages, most of the systems have calendar feature to highlight different events and deadlines.
· Cloud-based
In traditional school management systems, you have to be physically present in school to access the information. On the other hand cloud based school management system gives autonomy and freedom to access the portal anywhere through an internet connection. Portal is also available on the go, on your mobile phone. Cloud based system are considered more secure as compared to premises based hosting.
· Search Enabled
Search option is very important in any school management system. Whether it’s about student’s details search or employee’s profile search, the ease of accessing data should be there. Keyword search is also great support for accessing important information. In case of any emergency the quickest solution to know parent’s/guardians details is through search feature.
· Timetable
Timetable is a must have for every school management system. A good timetable module ensures that every teacher is assigned classes within the teacher’s defined maximum hour’s limit. A fair timetable is ensured by automatically calculating number of hours assigned.
· Report Generation
Report Generation and printing documents is a vital element of school management system. Whether it’s student’s profile, examination report, timetable, attendance or any other report, school management system supports these report generation as well as printing.
Along with these main features, there are many other features that school management systems offers. Just look at the features closely before finalizing the right choice for your school.
Why do you need school management software?
A school management software streamlines the various functions of an institution and simplifies it. It is a single dashboard which can be used by a school’s admin staff, teachers, parents of students and student themselves. In this way, a school management software can also improve visibility of all stakeholders.
Some of the applications of a school management software include timetable management, setting of exam schedules, recording marks and grades, tracking leaves by students and teachers and managing libraries. It can also be used by HR and admin staff to track salaries, budgets and utilization of resources.
The impact of a school management software, therefore, can be wide-ranging. This helps school cut down on total time spent on routine tasks, which can free up more time to improve the quality of education and a student’s experience in the institution, which are some of the top characteristics of successful schools.
Edumaze
Edumaze is a cloud-based school management solution catering to businesses of all sizes in the education industry. Core features assist users to manage school administration, generate custom reports, administer the enrollment and admissions process and track communications.
Edumaze lets users track bus routes, broadcast emergency notifications and track the progress of courses. The solution provides attendance tracking and gradebook customization. Users can create student profiles, which can be accessed by parents and teachers to view student performance, attendance and teacher notes. Edumaze also allows schools to manage scheduled appointments and walk-ins.
Edumaze enables users to design custom curriculums based on different competencies and automate the lessons mapping with the school calendar. The solution allows educational institutes to communicate with staff, parents and students through bulletin board posts, emails, group messages and through parent or student portals. The school administration can set role-based access to the reports generated.
Edumaze offers services on a subscription basis and customer support is available via phone, email and online consultation.
- Free plan: None
- Pricing model: Annual and termly subscriptions
