Developing intelligence in education

The educational sector is undergoing a mass amount of change of late, brought about by many factors. Yet the need to increase student numbers, improve the quality of teaching and increase revenue has remained the same.

Furthermore, educational institutions are under pressure to secure alternative funding and manage the increasing amount of administration brought about by changing laws and regulations.

Consequently, schools are becoming more and more like businesses and principals are increasingly urged to act like today's company executives. This certainly brings about a change in processes and imposes new demands on the sector in terms of the ability to translate all of this into actionable results.

Thus, the educational sector continually needs to focus on managing and optimising resources to:

* Manage student numbers
* Increase student satisfaction
* Keep abreast of compliance and regulatory requirements
* Integrate administration processes
* Ensure financial stability is maintained

While the sector is certainly looking to IT to assist with this process, the solution lies in implementing business intelligence (BI) systems.

The need to manage unprecedented data growth, obtain data of the highest quality, increase collaboration and comply with complex compliance regulations are a few reasons that are driving the need for insight, based on substantiated evidence.

In general, some educational institutions appear to be making solid progress with BI and are beginning to understand the value that such a solution can deliver.

It is clear that the value and importance of improving quality and accessibility of data is more widely appreciated, not only at the managerial level, but from a financial, legislation and ultimately from a holistic viewpoint.

Admission files connect to financial aid information which in turn connect to academic history files and so on, all contributing to better insight about not only the individual student, but also about the institution's processes.

Some educational institutions appear to be making solid progress with BI and are beginning to understand the value that such a solution can deliver.

Martin Rennhackkamp is COO of PBT.

BI can, for example, be used to analyse the effectiveness of class scheduling - pointing out whether students get to classes on time, and whether the sequencing of classes makes logical sense in terms of path optimisation and minimisation of congestion on stairways and passages. This, in turn, can assist with the proficient use of educators' time - all contributing to the efficiency of how the educational institution is run.

Furthermore, such solutions allow educational institutions to have insight into the absence and presence of students in relation to their performance. It is these simple, yet vitally important, aspects with which BI can assist in ensuring more effective and efficient running of a school or university.

The problem is not that the information is not available, it is - just in various departments and therefore cannot be combined or integrated into related, decision-making information for analysis.

Having this integrated information on hand brings about more advantages as better, faster decision-making will lead to greater satisfaction among pupils, a better educational curriculum and ultimately a higher success rate. Furthermore, systems from various facilities can be integrated, reducing costs and duplication and more importantly providing institution-wide insight into challenges, trends and opportunities.

Such possibilities are evidence that BI is moving away from being an exclusive tool for a few users to a more flexible, affordable and accessible tool for larger markets and diverse public and private sectors, such as education.

This is due to the driving need for an advanced solution which can offer faster and better insight into such a dynamic and important environment.

It is important to note, however, that as one solution does not fit all institutions, it is important to choose the right BI solution - one that is able to drive the vision of the school or university, add value to the departments that need it and ultimately achieve desired return on investment and student satisfaction.

As the education landscape changes and institutions increasingly strive to acquire solid information to drive business strategy, it is essential to recognise the drivers for BI and then integrate it into every facet of the sector. For it is only then that true intelligence can be gained and implemented - ultimately driving the education sector to success.

* Martin Rennhackkamp is COO of PBT.