Stars aligned for Royal exactly when needed despite the troubles and trepidations all over the world. It had already been an eighteen-month long effort in piecing together the latest asset of the College, a key part of its digital transformation strategy – the School Management System. School holidays which were declared early as a measure to contain the spread of the Covid19 virus, and the island-wide curfew that followed, created the perfect backdrop and timing for the launch of the Learning Management System, a key component of the larger School Management System.

Based on the principle laid down in the UNHCR report of 1999 titled “Education in Emergencies and for Reconstruction”, it was decided to use the crisis situation as a trigger to introduce e-learning at College in line with its long term goals, rather than as a mere short term stop-gap measure.

The Royal College School Management System (SMS) is a resource management software system designed to digitize diverse aspects of the school’s operations including academics, finances, event schedules student performance reporting and archiving. The Learning Management System (LMS) is a key component of the SMS which facilitates the academic content development and delivery over e-media. Together, the SMS & LMS will take the Royal College to a new era of digitization resulting in greater efficiency, productivity and transparency.

It was quite fortunate that the groundwork was already laid by the Royal College Union (RCU), with a long-term vision in mind, when crisis struck. It was but the second day of the big match when it was decided by the relevant advisory committees of the RCU, in consultation with Principal Sir, to accelerate the launch of the LMS so that Royalists would not find the long holidays a waste.

Thereafter the School Development Society and the College Administration stepped in to help source the teacher, student, syllabus, and time table details necessary for the creation of virtual classes and user accounts, and onboarding of users. The Prefects’ Council assembled a virtual peace-time army to totally handle the administration and coordination of the mammoth exercise, which was carried out 100% remotely. Tasks that needed expeditious execution included the creation of accounts, time-tables, user logins, and informing and guiding parents. Despite many a handicap under lock-down conditions, especially IT infrastructure, the academic staff gave life to the system by providing the very best academic material and resources to help students revise and self-study.

It is noteworthy to highlight that all the above was done completely remotely, strictly conforming to the lock-down conditions imposed under country-wide curfew.

Important milestones
13th March – The idea of launching the LMS was conceived
23rd March – First class on boarded as a pilot
4th April – All classes from grades 6 13 on boarded (close to 5,000 students and 200 teachers)
6th April – Grades 10 and 11 students take part in the first-term assessments on the system
16th April – Grades 6-9 and A/L students take part in the first-term assessments on the system
20th April – Several virtual classes conducted online

A bit more about the system
Implementing a sustainable system that would keep up and evolve alongside the rapid changes in technology was a critical factor in designing the system. Naturally, the Cloud Smart School System by Codegen International was selected for this very reason.

It is a promising system with vendor assurance of customized enhancements and scalability; a system that can grow and adapt according to the requirements of the hallowed institution. The system is simple, intuitive and easy to use, thus catering to all students and teachers across the spectrum of tech competency. Teachers were also pleased with the high level of data security and privacy the system offered.

Among a wide array of features, the ability to submit assessments, view/download lesson material, attend online classes and maintain online profiles are most popular among the students. Parents would find it convenient to be able to stay up to date on their son’s academic, co-curricular and extra-curricular performance, school attendance, syllabus coverage through a single portal.

Appreciation
After an immensely successful launch, the Principal extends his thanks to His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka and the Minister of Education for guidance given to ensure continuity of education, the Academic Faculty and the Prefects’ Council of the College, the Royal College Union as well as its Digital Transformation Advisory Committee, the Academic and Skills Development Advisory Committee, and the IT Advisory and Management Committee and the School Development Society. The support of the staff of CodeGen International must be specially mentioned with great appreciation.

The future looks bright for young Royalists with plans underway to integrate the primary section to the system, release a user friendly mobile application and provide necessary IT infrastructure to the academic faculty together with ongoing enhancements to the system.

Royal College is also working closely with the Ministry of Education with the aim of ultimately sharing this system and its technology for the benefit of the youth of the entire nation.

Watch an introduction to the Royal College Cloud Smart School Management System by clicking here.

To receive information or submit suggestions regarding the:

School Management System
Kaif Sally, Deputy Head Prefect of IT (+94 77 510 7134)
Yuneth Wijenayake, Prefect in Charge of SMS (+94 77 474 5577)

Learning Management System
Minul Doluweera, Deputy Head Prefect of Academics (+94 77 737 3357)
Nimesh Ranchagoda, Prefect in Charge of LMS (+94 77 429 3455)