Wards’ marks or mischief,parents to get SMS alerts from school

Parents of all the 250 students from junior KG to Class X started getting SMSes from Tuesday.

The school is using bulksmspune.mobi for the purpose.

“The idea is to keep parents updated with school activities and the progress of their wards. Since all the parents possess mobile phones,it is easy to convey important messages,that too instantly,” said principal Renu Sumbaly.

“We used to give a calendar to students detailing activities during the year,the holiday list,gatherings and schedules of unit tests and annual examinations. Parents sometimes forget to check it. The new system will avoid any such lapses,” she said.

Some city schools have started using e-mail to convey messages to parents. However,not all parents of the students of The Andhra High School,have computers and connectivity. So the school went for the easier and more affordable option. Sumbaly said the system was started only after confirming that either parent of each student has a mobile phone. “We can send SMSes to all parents at a time or to parents of students of a particular class,” she said.

“Through this system,we can convey messages such as unit test schedules,holidays declared at the eleventh hour or if a student falls ill,and students’ marks,” she said.

“It will be good if we come to know of events in advance. Many a time,children forget to convey messages to parents. Now it will be easier for parents to know the various activities,” said Rakhi Agarwal,mother of a student.

Deepak Awale,father of another student,said,“We can even know if our ward does any mischief. Many a time,our wards hide notices given to them. Now,it will not happen.”