Extending the social network to schools

In an age when all communication has turned virtual, online communication with schools too is turning into a reality. In a bid to bridge the communication gap and lack of school information pointers between schools and parents, Schooldy.com is an effort to create a niche social network that helps parents, students, teachers and schools.

Started by Saket Namdeo, Nishant Gautam, and Divye Tela, the entire group of nine friends from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) took the initiative to make interaction with schools easier and enhance communication between all parties involved.

“From personal experience, I have seen how many parents have a lot of running around to do when they want any information about schools. Actually that’s how our business model came out and we thought creating such a website would be ideal for saving time and energy for parents,” said Divye Tela, one of the co- founders of the website, adding that their intention is to make the whole process user- friendly. Incidentally, the term Schooldy is a combination of the words ‘school’ and ‘buddy’.

“We found the whole process quite exciting; whether it be active discussions on the education system or the processes, and we hope that we can make a difference,” says Tela.

What started as a telephonic module was later converted into an online portal. “Anyone can ask a question and the schools can directly answer it. Previously, we had to take questions and take it forward with the school. However, now it is possible to have a direct interaction,” said Saket Namdeo, co-founder of Schooldy, adding that they want to bring the complete school experience on web for students, parents and teachers.
There are a lot of missing links in the education sphere and if technology is used effectively, the gap can be bridged, feels co- founder, Nishant Gautam. “The education system can move ahead if the communication gap prevalent in the system is reduced. We want the website to be a platform for parents, teachers, students, or for that matter, anyone associated with schools, to come together and resolve issues,” he added.

With the admission season going on right now, the website also has a customisable online admission solution to manage admission procedures online, which aims to be the solution for schools facing operationalcrunches during admission season.

“The admission process is a hassle not only for parents but also for schools. Sometimes, parents have queries regarding the school they want to admit their child to, or they may want to compare it with other schools. Schools too face issues during the admission season in particular, and all this can be resolved if it goes online and schools can represent themselves through the website,” explains Gautam.

Parents can log on to the website and after filling in some details, the form is sent to the school administrator, who has registered, following which the school can short- list students and schedule an appointment.

The team is also working on developing tools using which registered schools can connect to prospective parents or put parents of students studying in the school in touch with other parents. In the future, the team also plans to incorporate online education material on the website and connect students and teachers. They are also working on starting online counseling sessions for parents and teachers.

At present they have 6,000 schools registered from across India and 11, 00 from Bangalore. “The response in Bangalore is much better, probably because people are more adept with technology and are open to new ideas,” felt Namdeo, who is currently visiting schools in the city.