SMS messaging by schools to prevent truancy

Many schools are starting to adopt bulk SMS messaging to improve communications with parents. The traditional communication channels were all problematic in that notes sent to parents often get lost, calling a number of parents can be very time consuming and not all parents have access to e-mail and the internet during school hours.

Recent figures from the Department of Education reveal that 90,000 state school students, or 1 in 5 in Queensland, attended less than 85% of classrooms last year. Recent trials from the State Government reveal that project “SEAM” which was set up to reduce the level of truancy resulted in 50 parents being sent warning letters about their children’s attendance.

Existing technology involving SMS (Short Message Service) is now being adopted by many schools as a true form of reducing the level of truancy.

Bruce Williamson from Powertec who are a leading supplier of SMS solutions for schools says, “most parents have a mobile phone and can receive important announcements from the school via SMS. With SMS messaging, schools have a more effective and cost efficient way of communicating with parents. In fact the mobile phone is seen as the most common communication tool between schools, parents and students, so an SMS solution is the obvious choice. If students know that their parents are just an SMS away from being notified of absenteeism, the level of truancy reduces considerably.”

“By using an SMS gateway solution, a school is able to send out one message to all relevant parties instantaneously”, according to Mr Williamson.

“Not only does using SMS messaging benefit the school, it also allows schools to communicate with the parents in a way that includes them in the day to day school life of their child. With appalling truancy figures being release by the Department of Education today, we now have an immediate long term solution to the problem” said Mr Williamson.

The sendQuick™ SMS system is also effective for communicating last minute changes, such as the cancellation of a sports event.

More and more schools are using the sendQuick™ SMS solution to send SMS to parents. This desktop application is user friendly, and makes sending an SMS as easy as sending an email.

For further information of the sendQuick™ solution, please contact Powertec at 1300 Powertec or go to www.sendquick.com.au

Powertec is helping to shape the future of telecommunications through its continuous development and association with some of the world’s leading technology brands. Powertec is committed to providing quality and cost effective telecommunication solutions for remote and metropolitan communication, in both residential and business markets in more than 50 countries around the world. Read more at www.powertec.com.au