System glitch
hits S'pore schools' centralised report card system
Amelia Teng
The Straits Times
Friday, May 27, 2016
Some students in Singapore will not be receiving complete report
cards for the first half of the year, because of a fault in a
centralised Web-based system that tabulates their results.
The School Cockpit System, as it is called, is managed by a vendor
and serves all public schools here - more than 350 of them - from
primary schools to junior colleges, as well as the Millennia
Institute.
It is not known how many schools were affected by the recent
glitch.
Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao reported on Wednesday that a back-end
fault in the system affected procedures for teachers, who usually
key in students' test scores to compile report cards before the
June school holidays.
It cited some teachers as saying that their schools were making
alternative arrangements, such as tabulating the results manually,
giving them out after the holidays and updating parents about their
children's progress during meet-the-parents sessions.
The School Cockpit System, launched in 2001, is used to implement
administrative duties, such as monitoring students' academic
results and attendance records.
It is meant to help improve the productivity of teachers by easing
these day-to-day work processes.
In response to queries, the Ministry of Education said it was
alerted on May 16 that schools were experiencing system
slowness.
"Interim checks show there is malfunctioning of a back-end system
component, and the team is working to resolve the issue and restore
the system," said a spokesman. "In the meantime, we have in place
alternative plans to help schools continue with their work.
"Schools will be able to prepare and generate simplified versions
of result slips, so teachers can give parents an update on their
child's progress and development at the end of the school
term."
These result slips will consist of subject marks and grades,
teachers' remarks, students' conduct and overall scores.
Details such as students' attendance records and their height or
weight will not be included, although these can be printed out by
schools if necessary.
Schools will hand out these simplified slips in the coming weeks,
or after the June holidays.
Some parents contacted said they would not be concerned even if
their children's results were given out later.
Madam Cindy Hiang, a 42-year-old administrative executive, said her
son's teacher told parents that the students' results would be out
by this week.
"I haven't heard if my son's school would be affected. But I'm not
really concerned," said Madam Hiang, whose son is in Secondary 1.
"If the grades come later, I won't pester the teachers."
She added: "If it's a system error, it's no one's fault."