Poor tools, poor schools: 4 ways technology holds schools back

Times are tough and resources are stretched.

Schools are spending on average three-quarters of their budget on staffing, leaving little left for essentials like admin, facilities management and technology.

With nine in ten schools expected to do more with less, back-office technology needs to address multiple pain points, but today’s systems often cause more problems than they solve.

To explore the challenges faced by schools and MATs, we surveyed school leaders and business managers to identify their issues with Management Information Systems (MIS).

Get full access to the whole report here.

The top frustrations with MIS technology:

1. Time limits
One-in five (21%) said lack of time to complete tasks impacted their ability to do their jobs.

2. Funding
87% of respondents agreed (31%) or strongly agreed (56%) they were expected to do more with less funding and fewer resources. 77% cited funding as the first and second most limiting barrier to the introduction of new technology.

3. Workload
When asked what issue contributed to increasing workload, school data analysis was noted by 43% of respondents as the most significant issue; 89% placed it within their top three. Reporting and moving information (63%) and data protection and GDPR (71%) also featured highly.

4. Poor usability
21% stated the data interface and usability were their biggest concerns. However, the other big challenge here is the fragmented nature of applications used, which don't ‘talk to’ each other. In fact, 51% of respondents placed fragmentation in their top three concerns.

What does a future-fit MIS look like?

An MIS deployed effectively helps employees to do their jobs more effectively. For schools, a future-fit MIS will facilitate collaboration, communication, and in-house reporting.

A series of integrated modules that serve different teams is going to be the most agile and flexible model, and based on what we learnt in our survey, schools will welcome such a product with open arms.

To find out more about what schools need for a future-fit MIS, click here to download our whitepaper.