Edited by MOHAN DAS VISWAM

KV Shaala Darpan (http://darpan.kvs.gov.in) is an e-Governance platform which aims to improve the quality of learning, efficiency of school administration, governance of schools & service delivery to key stakeholders namely, students, parents, teachers, community and schools. KV Shaala Darpan is a key initiative undertaken by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, across all Kendriya Vidyalayas in the country to realize Hon’ble Prime Minister’s ‘Digital India’ vision.

KV Shaala Darpan has been implemented by NICSI on NIC Clouds for 1185 Kendriya Vidyalayas across the country. A mammoth task was accomplished online in one of the largest school systems in the world with an estimated 1.2 million students and 50,000 teachers. In the online admission process, all data was made available live to each school, region and headquarter, enabling real time monitoring at a click. All the steps of admission process including registration, shortlisting and admission have been done on the platform.

The online admission form is made simple, with very minimal data entry requirement. It provides mostly drop down menu options for applicants. Parents who are not digitally savvy can visit a cyber café and arrange for the form fill-up and submission. Else, they can approach and submit their application at school directly. From applying to registering to short listing to admission, all the steps are part of the platform, complying with all criteria in a complex environment.

APPLICATION MODULES OF KV SHAALA DARPAN In system, the activities and processes of a school are grouped logically in three Modules with its categories:

Student Management Module • Student Management • Results • Attendance

Administration Module • Employee Management • Inventory and Procurement • Fees and Fine • Payroll • Financial Management and Book Keeping • System Administration

Advanced Module • E-Learning System • SMS • Online Payment • Parent/ Guardian Information • Online Admission • Multiple School Integrated Dash board • Examination • Time Table • Library • Transport • Hostel Management

School Automation System (MIS/ERP) is an integrated web based application which provides a single interface to Parents, Students, Teachers and School Administration.

KV Shaala Darpan will target to deliver the services that enable the stakeholders including students, teachers, and administrators both at KVS(HQ), New Delhi and Regional Hqrs (25) to achieve the objectives of School Education i.e. Access, Quality & Formulation policy and carrying out institutional & systemic reforms.

OBJECTIVES 'Shaala Darpan' refers to mirror view of a school. It is a Mission Mode Project (MMP), with the following objectives: • Enable improvement in quality of learning • Improve efficiency of school administration and governance of schools • Improve service delivery of school education department to the key stakeholders including students, parents, community, teachers, and schools • Access to near real-time and better quality data for decision support

OUTCOMES • Improved Efficiency in School Administration • Visibility of Student, Teacher and School Performance for:

  • Parents
  • Community
  • Administrators

• Inputs for Teacher Training through linkages with student performance • Ease of access to near real time and better quality data leading to better monitoring, effective scheme implementation and decision support systems • Improved interfaces with:

  • Administrators
  • Boards
  • Allied Departments– e.g. Health/ Revenue/ Labour & Employment/ Technical education

• Improved efficiency in life cycle management of Teachers services by School education department • Improved governance and transparency in delivery of regulatory services to citizens, businesses by School education department • Enabling Improvement of Quality and Standards of School Education through ICT enabled content, teaching learning material for students and teachers, assessment tools, question banks etc.

STAKEHOLDER BENEFITS

Benefits to Parents • Real-time View of Student Activities through Parent Portal • Comprehensive and evidence based view of student performance through Analytical reports • Efficient support services – Timely Alerts through SMS engine

Benefits to Students • Access to personal information online • Online learning resources to promote self-paced learning through LSP • Focus on specific development needs through comparative analytics • Comprehensive personal profile covering health records, reading habits, performance etc. • Facilitate collaborative learning through LSP • Feedback mechanism through grievance logging

Benefits to Teachers • Online access to personal information • Service records, Leaves, Attendance, Time-table, Pay slips etc. • SMS alerts • Clear roles & responsibilities & workload allocation • Centralized knowledge repository through LSP • Online resources for self-learning & development • Standardized workflows & Business rules • Reports and Report Card generation

Benefits to School • Single integrated system for all functions • Centralized database • Data digitization • Defined process and workflow • Compliant to Statutory/ Board requirements • Real-time view of Data through Analytics • Role based access to all Stakeholders • Reduction of administrative effort • Single source of truth

Benefits to Administration (RO/HQ/MHRD) • Standardized processes & policies • Integrated view of Sangathan • Centralized monitoring (e.g. fund utilization) • High availability of quality learning content • Uniform pedagogy across schools • Transparency

SUMMARY At the end of one and half years of digitization process, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) has taken the student admission process of over 1185 schools on ‘KV Shaala Darpan’, an online and cloud based platform. Over 8 lakh people have registered on this ‘Sturdy Platform’ during 8th February to 10th March 2017. Over 1 lakh students got admitted to 1185 schools for the academic year 2017-18. The system has enabled parents to log on and get their children admitted to schools without the bother of taking time off from work and making multiple trips to schools.