'Jenny not @ school 2day'
2007-08-15 08:50
Pretoria - Circular letters may soon be outdated as more and more schools resort to SMS technology to communicate with parents.
Salah Elbaba, Managing Director of smsweb says there has been a dramatic increase in the number of schools using e-technology to keep parents abreast of their children's activities.
About 200 schools countrywide were already using the system, which went into operation in 2004.
Elbaba said on average about four children were reported missing every day and although about 88% of them were found, parents went through tremendous agony and tension when it happened.
He said with smsweb there was much more peace of mind for parents, who knew that they could be contacted immediately by SMS if their children did not pitch up at school, or for extramural activities.
With the unlimited SMS service, the entire school and all parents could be informed if a child went missing.
The service could also be tailored to communicate with pupils in a specific grade, or those involved in certain sports.
Elbaba said another advantage was that parents could be informed of changes in arrangements such as sports days, enterpreneurs days or other activities.
In addition, it could help eliminate uncertainty if children had to wait at schools because their parents could not be contacted in time.
Elbaba said many teachers and parents had come to appreciate the value of technology during the recent national strike.
"Parents could be informed immediately if it was safe to send their children to school, or rather to keep them at home," he said.