Increased violence, truancy and lack of discipline at schools motivated Salah Elbaba, MD of SMSweb, to design a cellphone package aimed at helping parents better monitor their children's activities and movements.
Cellphone technology is now playing a role in maintaining discipline at schools, he adds.
A lack of communication between parents and educators, Elbaba says, has been identified as one of the main factors enabling children to skip school and take part in delinquent activities. With the new program, schools can send an unlimited number of SMSes, allowing them to communicate closely with parents.
It has been found that the pupils who disobey school rules are also the ones who do not bring their parents notes from school. "These parents are oblivious to important information pertinent to their children's welfare at school," states Elbaba.
He says truancy has been identified as the most common entry point for criminal behaviour among teenagers and it has become increasingly difficult for school staff to deal with this issue alone.
"With the SMS service, schools can inform parents instantaneously of school activities, changes in programmes and most importantly students who fail to arrive."
He adds that by identifying and acting on truancy immediately, teachers are able to nip it in the bud. Often the truant pupils are traced within hours of them skipping school.
The SMSweb system utilises resources, until now unavailable to schools, allowing them to actively involve and notify parents as soon as students do not arrive at school. "This enables them to prevent students from engaging in these delinquent activities," Elbaba concludes.
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