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Published by Salbiah Bahari, 2019-12-03 21:57:39

FINAL Business Record Magazine

FINAL Business Record Magazine

RECORD KEEPING IN
SCHOOLS/EDUCATIONAL

INSTITUTIONS

 IMPORTANCE
 MANAGING & PRESERVING

 CHARACTERISTICS
 CHALLENGES

Page | 6

Good Recordkeeping Practices for
Effective Management of Educational
System.

WRITTEN BY : FADHILAH BT SARIF, 2018208294

Records are important for their content
and as evidence of communication,
decisions, actions, and history.

Keeping accurate and up-to- their content and as evidence of communication, decisions, actions, and history.
date records is vital to the As public institutions, school boards are accountable to the public and to
success of any business. government. Records support openness and transparency by documenting and
The business must realise that providing evidence of work activities and by making them available to the public.
records kept will be one of the most Records support quality program and services, inform decision making, and help
important management tools it meet organizational goals.
possesses and, therefore, it should
be allocated due importance. Any As enrolment in schools increases globally on a daily bases, the available
record keeping system should be resources may become over-stressed. Therefore, adequate record keeping of the
accurate, reliable, easy to follow, human and material resources is needed to address the issue of ever-increasing
consistent as to the basis used and enrolment. As well as the need to provide schools with human and material
be very simple. Good record keeping resources that can help them achieve sustainable educational objectives. There
is vital in regards to meeting the is a need to keep a record of all school activities as part of effective school
financial commitments of the administration. Record keeping and the management of records is a vital
business and providing information responsibility of the school administrator because of the indispensable role of
on which decisions for the future of records and information in the day-to-day activities of the school system. School
the business can be based. While managers rely on the short and long-term data captured in records to make
the business maintains records to effective decisions about immediate issues and more comprehensive school
monitor and record its normal policies.
business activities, it is also
necessary because of obligations The purpose of record keeping for effective school management is to ensure that
under the taxation laws. accurate and proper records are kept of student achievement and growth, school
activities and matters that will promote school efficiency and effectiveness. This
Effective administration therefore is article aims to offer an excellent package to support stakeholders in educational
that administration that helps to management and/or administration. It is comprehensive and thorough, yet flexible
bring about optimum achievement of and encompassing. Concepts are explained and applications are discussed.
any organization/establishment and From this source, stakeholders can both learn about and develop skills in school
in this case, the school. One of the record keeping aimed at enhancing school management, planning and
very most important aspects of supervision.
school administration is record
keeping. Records are important for

GOOD RECORD KEEPING IS VITAL IN REGARDS TO
MEETING THE FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS OF THE
BUSINESS AND PROVIDING INFORMATION ON WHICH
DECISIONS FOR THE FUTURE OF THE BUSINESS CAN
BE BASED.

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Record keeping generally concerns the administrative activities that are concerned with achieving cost-
effectiveness and efficiency in the creation, maintenance, use and disposal of the records of educational
institutions throughout their entire life cycle and in making the information they contain accessible in
support of the school business administration. Thus, it is essential that records are kept in school for effective
administration, because proper record keeping facilitates retrieval of valuable information that might be helpful in
day-to-day operations and decision making in school systems globally. Some of the significance of school records
keeping is:

ACCOUNTABILITY: Record keeping is vital to an EMPLOYMENT: Properly kept records on the human
resources serve useful employment and planning related
education system’s information cycle as a whole,
because of its fundamental role in the process of purposes. The number of staff, their areas of
efficient information production and collection. School specialization, qualifications, age, gender, and so on will
records are an important means of accountability
because they provide proof. Records such as cash help the principle to determine the human resource
books and stock books help to ensure accountability as needs and assets of his or her school. Consistent
they show income, expenditures and stock levels in a
school. These cash and the stock books can then be information kept about employees can also be used in
made available to auditors on demand for the auditing of employee performance appraisals.

school funds and facilities. GUIDANCE COUNSELORS: School records are of
great importance to school guidance counsellors as
DECISION MAKING: School records help school these records can provide counsellors with a holistic
administrators to make decisions. Records provide raw picture of the students they counsel (academic grades

data that enable coherent, balanced and objective and achievements, disciplinary measures taken
decisions on issues such as promotion, student and staff and/or extracurricular activities) and can help
counsellors to track student progress.
discipline, and teaching and learning performances.

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INFORMATION BANK: Records kept in schools serve Types of School Records
as an information bank from which school administrators
School records can be classified into
can recall information as needed. two types: statutory and non-statutory
. records. Statutory records are records
prescribed by education edicts and
INFORMATION FOR PARENTS: Parents often want laws of a state which must be
to know how their children or wards perform maintained by school administrators.
Non-statutory records, while not
academically. Records of school report cards and/or end prescribed by law, are equally as
of term results should be kept by schools should parents important to the smooth functioning of
a school. Examples of the records found
wish to review or discuss past student performance. in schools and school systems:

STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND Admission and withdrawals register
BEHAVIOR: Certificates and testimonials are issued to Attendance register
graduating students to show how they performed during Class timetable
Education edicts and laws
their studies. Properly kept records can help Health records
considerably in the accurate production of thorough Individual cumulative record card
Lesson plan
certificates/testimonials. Log book
Disciplinary records
SUBJECT TIME TABLE: School time tables help in the School cash book
coordination of staff and student activities and work. School stock book
School timetable
Keeping track of time tables from year to year can help a School diary
school and school administrators determine which Staff and student movement book
Transfer and leaving certificates
combination of classes and teaching assignments work Visitor’s book
best to optimize teaching and learning. Syllabus
Scheme of work
SUPERVISORS/INSPECTORS: The availability of Curriculum
records enables supervisors or inspectors to objectively
assess student and staff performance and offer advice

or proposals for improvement.

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MANAGING
AND

PRESERVING
RECORDS

SAFELY

Poor records management results in CLASSIFICATION: This is the methods of arranging
difficulties in administering, planning records and files perfectly into groups according to subject. It
and monitoring of educational systems ensures that school records are arranged in a logical order.
entirely. The logical arrangement of files is central because it
guarantees that files have their specific places and can be
School records management involves the retrieved without snag and significant loss.
storage, retrieval and use of information. It is the
application of systematic and scientific control to FILE STORAGE: After a classification system has been
all the recorded information that schools need for determined and files have been labelled, files should then be
school administration. Poor records management arranged accordingly and kept in a filing cabinet drawer. A
results in difficulties in administering, planning filing cabinet or cabinets should be used for this purpose.
and monitoring of educational systems entirely. The cabinet drawers in which the files are housed must also
In fact, poor records management and the lack of be labelled clearly and the files appropriately organized so
staff development with regards to the entire as to maintain the relationship of the files to one another.
information cycle are responsible for a number of
management and policy implementation FILE MAINTENANCE: It is important to check the files
problems in schools and Ministry of Education. periodically to ensure that they are in good condition, since
While different methods or systems can be used they are prone to wear and tear. Some records in files may
to bring about efficient records management, be loose and could fall out easily. These should be securely
there are some basic rules that must be attached and reattached.
respected. The management of school records
involves all activities that ensure that they are in CHECK OUT: When records or files are lent to users, a
good condition, and kept in an orderly state. system must be worked out that tracks where and when
Some of the ways records can be safely certain files or records were lent to a user. Small cards may
managed and preserved according to are: be designed to enable efficient control over the flow of files.

NATURAL FACTORS: School records should be properly
arranged and secured from natural hazards such as
flooding, insects, rain, sun, termites and wind.

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The management of records in schools, like in any 1. COMPLETENESS: Complete and
other organization, is a cyclic process involving
principals, teachers, students, messengers and comprehensive records should be kept to give
cleaners. users all the information needed to plan and make
effective decisions.
Managing school records is meant to enhance the
performance of school administrators. An 2. COST: Records should not be too expensive to

adequate records management programme co- keep. This means that the financial cost of
ordinates and protects an institutions records, collecting, analysing, synthesizing, storing and
retrieving records should be low.
sharpens the effectiveness of records as
management memory, and helps to simplify intra- 3. FLEXIBILITY: Data is flexible if it can be used
organisational and communication problems. The
by more than one user at different times for
management of records in schools, like in any different purposes.
other organization, is a cyclic process involving
principals, teachers, students, messengers and 4. QUALITY: The quality of any information
cleaners. Most records are handled by school
contained in any record must be accurate and
heads and are kept manually, hence the reliable. The greater the accuracy and reliability,
processing, retrieval and utilization of records is the higher the quality of information, and the more
not always easy. The following are characteristics likely the information system is to work well.

or attributes of good record management. 5. RELEVANCE: A relevant record is one that is

useful to the needs of the system. A good deal of
irrelevant information is kept, particularly in
schools. Data that is no longer relevant and not
required by law should be securely disposed of.

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6. RETENTION AND DISPOSITION OF
RECORDS: The disposition of records does not

entirely mean destruction. Disposition can also
include transfer of records to a historical achieve,
to a museum, etc. In the case of schools,
however, most records are disposed of when no
longer needed. The public officials concerned
may destroy these records upon expiration of the
retention period.

7. VARIABILITY: This refers to the degree of

consensus arrived at among various users
examining the record. The greater the consensus
among users, the more accepted the record.

8. MAINTENANCE: The maintenance of records

involves all activities that ensure that they are in
good condition, and kept in an orderly state. This
is a central function of records management.

9. TIMELINESS: Information contained in a record

should be retrievable as it is needed rather than
after important decisions have been made.

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Looking ahead, what are the challenges that school record managers face over the
years? What security measures should be taken?

FIRE OUTBREAKS : Fire disasters in schools PESTS AND RODENTS : Pests and rodents are

have become a source of concern in all parts of the common challenges facing the maintenance of
world. They cause enormous loss of lives and school records in most schools. Most schools
property. Fire disasters are by far the most common surroundings are shrouded with overgrown grasses
disaster in learning institutions. thereby making the inhabiting of rodents possible.
When cockroaches and rodents invade a school
FLOODING : Flooding is the discharge of water they chew anything that resembles food or nesting
material including cardboard, boxes, books, art
exceeding the channel capacity of a river and the projects, plastic bags and their contents and
preceding to inadequate the adjacent floodplain to electrical wires. Mice and rats also make a mess by
destroy agricultural and land settlement, therefore urinating and defecating wherever they feed and
causing disaster to lives and property. The erection leaving smelly trails of furniture and droppings.
of artificial lakes like dams can cause artificial
flooding. Schools that are built near dams and rivers IRRESPONSIBILITY ON THE PART OF
are mostly affected by flooding. School buildings and TEACHERS AND SECRETARIAT STAFF :
records are completely submerged in water, thereby
creating a big challenge for record maintenance. Irresponsibility on the part of teachers and
secretariat staff may result in falsification of school
IMPROPER STORAGE : This phenomenon records. Lack of appropriate record keeping can be
due to teachers allowing unauthorized persons like
occurs when the responsibility of keeping school the class prefect or non-academic staff to mark
record is manned by inexperienced personnel or an register or schemes of work. These categories of
organization has low priority of record management persons have no relevant experience to keep
in their scheme of things. These bodies are accurate records of activities. They may even be too
responsible for unavailability, inaccurate, incomplete lazy to exercise the function since it is not their duty
and dishonest records of individuals in their to do it.
organizations. This affects planning for and provision
of structures and facilities, adequate funding, proper
formulation and review of policies.

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INADEQUATE SUPERVISION OF Conclusion
TEACHERS AND SECRETARIAT STAFF :
Writing an article on school records and
Allied to this point above is inadequate supervision effective educational management is
of teachers and secretariat staff by Principals, which
may hinder effective record keeping in schools. somewhere similar to filing for impoverishment
When the Principal or the Vice Principal designated because of the financial cost involved. Poor
to supervise the record keeping fails in his/her duty, records management results in difficulties in
the result is that teachers may keep shady records administering; planning and monitoring of
or may not keep them at all. Principals and Vice educational systems globally. In fact, poor
Principals need not assume that teachers and school records management and the lack of
secretariat staff are doing their work and need no staff development with regards to the entire
supervision. Every one whether effective or
ineffective, needs supervision that can launch information cycle are responsible for a number
him/her into greater responsibility. of management and policy implementation

NON-UTILIZATION OF SUBMITTED problems in schools. The importance of good
DATA TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES : record keeping in the school system cannot be
over-emphasized; it is pertinent that all records
Non-utilization of submitted data to government must as a matter of necessity be kept accurately
agencies affects effective record keeping in our
schools. A situation where school boards or and honestly. School records must not be
government agencies do not give attention to the carelessly handled or purposely destroyed.
figures submitted to them when allocating School records are the life wire of the school.
educational equipment does not augur well with the Therefore, everyone that is tasked with the
system. This has resulted in lack of commitment to management and maintenance must ensure
good record keeping. that they are safely kept. This, it is believed will

FRAGILE NATURE OF ELECTRONIC ensure the effective development and
RECORDS : Electronic records on the other hand performance of the school system.

are extremely fragile. They can be corrupted or
rendered unreadable with the stroke of a key, this
requires that for school and organization records to
be effectively and efficiently kept, they should be
handled by experienced personnel with computer
literacy. Lack of public electricity supply and high
cost of running private power supply also affects the
use of some electronic gadgets.

REFERENCES:
Alabi, Amos. (2017). Records Keeping For Effective Administration of Secondary Schools. Journal of Public Administration and
Governance. 7. 66. 10.5296/jpag.v7i2.11182.

Amanchukwu, Rose & Ololube, Nwachukwu Prince. (2015). Excellent School Records Behaviour for Effective Management of
Educational Systems. 2015. 12-17. 10.5923/j.hrmr.20150501.02.

E. E. Achor, S. M. Kurumeh& T. T. Udu (Eds.), Issues of Quality Education in Nigeria, Vol. II, Pp. 119-125. Makurdi Nigeria:
Department of Curriculum & Teaching Pub., 2018.

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RECORD
KEEPING IN

HEALTHCARE
INSTITUTION

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