Kinds of School Records

Introduction:

The records are the evidences which reflect: aims and objectives of the institute. As social
institution, school is answerable to parents, managing committee, education department,
community and to pupils so they are required to keep an accurate and complete account of
each and every pupil on its rolls and submit periodically report based on these records.
These records will reveal progress that each student has made and also show the weakness
and strengths of the educational programme and are again essential for furnishing the
Department of Education with an overall picture of the school, which is based on facts and
figures. These data are utilised for planning future programmes in budgetary form.

Objectives of School Records:

1. To help the school:
(i) To locate each pupil quickly.
(ii) To have available the facts significant about each pupil.
(iii) To find if all legal requirements are met.
(iv) To determine if any administrative or other changes are desirable.
(v) To make important investigation and case studies possible.
(vi) To find if school funds are adequate and wisely expended.
(vii) To reduce retardation and failure to the minimum.
2. To help the Class-room Teacher:
(i) To known pupils when the school year begins.
(ii) To determine what work a pupil is capable of doing.
(iii) To provide learning activities suitable to each pupil.
(iv) To formulate a basis for the intelligent guidance of pupils.
(v) To explain the behaviour characteristic or unhappy conditions of any pupil.
(vi) To make possible the development of unusual capacities or exceptional talents.
(vii) To identify and make proper provisions for mentally slow.
(viii) To make assignments to committee work and monitorial positions.
(ix) To make periodic reports correctly and in time.
(x) To be properly informed when conferring with parents and others about pupils.
3. To help the Pupil:
(i) To receive fair consideration in his classification.
(ii) To do his best in making a good record.
(iii) To make a progress in accordance with his ability.
(iv) To secure development of his natural capabilities.
(v) To secure transfer of correct information to other schools when desired.
(vi) To receive proper adjustment and guidance.
What are the types of School records:

School records and registers can be broadly classified under the following categories:

1. General Records :

(i) School Calendar,

(ii) Log Book,
(iii) Visitors’ Book,
(iv) Service Registers,
(v) Admission and Withdrawal Register,
(vi) Transfer Certificate Book,
(vii) General Order Book.

2. Financial Records :
(i) Acquittance Roll,
(ii) Contingency,
(iii) Contingent Order Book,
(iv) Free Collection Register,
(v) Abstract Register of Fees,
(vi) Bill Register,
(vii) Register of Donations,
(iii) Register of Scholarships,
(ix) Boys’ Fund Register.

3. Educational Records :
(i) Pupils Attendance Register,
(ii) ‘Teachers’ Attendance Register,
(iii) Class Time-Table,
(iv) General Time-table,
(v) Teacher’s Monthly Programme of Work,
(vi) Monthly Progress Register,
(vii) Terminal Examination Result Register,
(viii) Headmaster’s Supervision Register,
(ix) Private Tuitions Register,
(xi) Cumulative Records.

4. Equipment Records : 
(i) Stock Book of Furniture and School Applicance,
(ii) Library Catalogue,
(iii) Accession Register,
(iv) Issue Books, Register of Newspapers and Magzines received,
(v) Stock and Issue Register of Sports Material.

5. Correspondence Records :
(i) ‘From’ and ‘To’ Registers,
(ii) Peon Book,
(iii) Memo Book,
(iv) Notes File of Department Orders,
(v) Register of Casual Leave Granted.

6. Account Books :
(i) Cash Book for Daily Receipts and Expenditure,
(ii) General Ledger or Classified Abstract of the Monthly Totals,
(iii) Remittance Book,
(iv) Register of Pay Bills.
7. Special Registers Maintained by the Basic Schools : 
(i) Craft-work Record,
(ii) Community Activity Records,
(iii) Art Work Record,
(iv) Hobbies Record,
(v) Physical Education Programme Records,
(vi) Scholar-ship Subjects Achievement Records.
8. The School Calendar:

School calendar is a useful record. It helps in the systematic organisation of school activities.
It should contain the following items of information :

1.General, partial and local holidays.

2. Dates for the submission of monthly, quarterly, half yearly and annual reports and returns.
3. Dates of public and school examinations.
4. Dates of sending up applications for public examinations.
5. Dates of meetings of School Committees, Teachers Associations, different clubs and
societies, school tournaments, school excursions and educational tours.

Important Records and Registers a school should maintain:

1. Pupils’ Attendance Register:

Only one attendance register should be kept by one teacher. Exceptions may be made,
however, in those cases where classes are small. As the attendance registers provide a
separate column for each session of the school day, attendance has to be marked for both the
morning and the afternoon sessions, as soon as the class assembles at the prescribed time.

Holidays and their nature should be shown in the attendance register. It should show the
absences, tardiness, entrances, withdrawls, promotions, failures and other information which
may be desired by the administrators. Attendance, registers should be preserved for five
years.

2. The Log Book:

Every school should keep a Log Book. At present only the inspecting officers are entitled to
put down their remarks in it. But it should contain a complete record of events and furnish
material for a history of the school. It should mention special events, the introduction of new
text-books, apparatus or courses of instructions, any plan of lessons approved by the
inspector, the visits of the inspecting officers and other distinguished persons interested in
education, absence and illness of any of the school staff and any failure in duty on their part,
changes in the working hours of school, some special circumstances affecting the school that
may deserve to be recorded for future reference or any other reason.

3. Admission Register:

A record of all the pupils who are admitted to the school. The Admission Register contains
the date of admission, the serial number of the pupil, the age and name of the pupil, the
father’s name, caste, occupation and address, the class to which the pupil is admitted and the
date on which he leaves the school.

An admission register has to be preserved permanently and is often required by some superior
authority in a court of law as evidence for the date of birth of a pupil. Special care should be
taken in keeping the register so that there are no mistakes whatsoever, especially in the
column of the date of birth of the pupil when he is admitted to the school. Fresh entries have
to be made when pupils move from one department to another in the school.

4. Teachers’ Attendance Register

It records the daily attendance of the teachers in a school showing the time of arrival and the
time of departure of the teacher each day. It should be regularly filled in and signed by all
teachers, morning and afternoon, every day. Late comers should indicate the time at which
they arrive. The principal should also mark his own attendance and check the attendance of
his assistants at the commencement of each school session. Holidays and their nature should
also be indicated in it. Leave and nature of the leave should be shown and all application for
leave should be filed in the school office. The number of days of casual leave or other leave
taken by each teacher during the month, should be noted in the register by the principal at the
end of the month.

5. Personal Record:

There should be a complete personnel record of all the employees. It is valuable in helping
the principal to study and become, acquainted with the teaching personnel. It is also essential
for the teachers’welfare.

6. Cash Book:

All financial transactions occuring from day to day in a school are to a entered in a cash
book. It should be a bound volume and containing pages numbered in print. All transactions
to which a principal is a party in his official capacity must be brought in the school cash
book. All sorts of amounts received on a particular date should be deposited in full into a
Government Treasury or the Bank, as the case may be.

7. Speciman of Cash Book Notes:

All transactions relating to the school, such as salary, fees and fines, should be entered in the
cash book. It must be kept up-to-date. There must be agreement between entries in the cash
book and the corresponding entries in the other registers such as contingent register, Union
Account Register, Admission Fee Register, Medical Register, Games Account Register, etc.

8. Stock Register of School Equipment:

Whenever any equipment or furniture, that is of a more or less permanent nature, is bought
and placed in the school, it must be duly entered in the stock register. Alongwith the name of
the article should appear the date of its receipt in the school, its price, and name of authority
who ordered the purchase. The stock of equipment should be checked by the principal at least
once a year. Verification should be recorded in stock register, with an explanation for
discrepancy if any, and action taken for its regularisation. Checking is much simplified if
room-wise inventories are prepared.

9. Enrolment Record:

All pupils should be required to furnish certain general information upon entering school for
the first time. The enrolment card should be made in duplicate, one for the superintendent’s
office and one for the principal’s office. If may be used as a continous enrolment card and
should be kept up-to-date at all times. Some schools print the enrolment card in different
colours, one colour for the superintendent’s office and another colour for the principal’s
office Popularly known as progress report, this report card establishes a link between the
parents and the teacher.

It should give an honest and complete evaluation of the child’s growth and development. It
should stress the kinds of behaviour in a democracy. It should provide for indiviudal
differences. It should be constructive, diagnostic, and complete in all phases of child growth
and development.

Maintenance of School Registers :

1. Stock List : a stock lists of registers should be prepared in every school.

2. Particulars : On the outer cover of each register, the following particulars should be
written:
(i) The name of the school,
(ii) The Serial No. of the register,
(iii) The name of the register,
(iv) Number of the volume.
(v) The number of pages in the volume and dates on which the volume was opened and
closed.

3. Pages : When a register is opened, the pages should be numbered consecutively, either in
red ink or with a numbering machine.

4. Registration : Registration should be kept tidy. Writing and figuring should be such as
will give a neat appearance to the entries. Figures must not be joined. Registers should not be
folded or the pages crumpled. Over-writing should not be permitted.

5. Countersiging : Entries should be countersigned by the principal. A new volume of a

register should not be opened every year, if the previous volume contains some blank pages.
Whenever a fresh book is put into use, a remark on the flysheet of the book that the previous
volume has been fully used and lodged in the records should be recorded and the date from
which the new register is used and the number of pages it contains should also be noted
therein.

Conclusion:

School records include books, documents, diskettes and files that contain information on
what goes on in school as well as other relevant information pertaining to the growth and
development of the school. It has been found that, poor school records management and the
lack of staff development with regards to the entire information cycle are responsible for a
number of management and policy implementation problems in schools whereas, good
maintenance of these records make information available on finger tips for management
about anything and helps in preparing efficient system, strategies and policies for better
administer and future of institution therefore, we conclude that every school should maintain
proper school records.
Refrences:

 https://onlinenotebank.wordpress.com/2019/12/21/meaning-and-different-types-of-
school-records

 http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.hrmr.20150501.02.html

 https://www.preservearticles.com/education/what-are-the-different-type-of-records-a-
school-has-to-maintain/18749