Photograph by Flickr user Kamil Porembinksi (CC-usage).

Editor’s note: This is a translation of Nuraika’s post (RUS).

I recently started hearing about SMS Reports. “What cold they be?” I wondered. A blog, a magazine or some sort of educational novelty? Apparently, it has been around for some time, and is a system whereby teachers update parents on their children’s progress via text messages. My school had nothing of the sort, which I’m now secretly happy about.

The SMS Report is a daily information service that informs parents about what their kids are learning, how well they are performing, and what important school events they should be aware of – all delivered conveniently via SMS. Messages include grades, attendance, upcoming exams, social events, daily schedules, and much more.

Now, Kyrgyzstan’s schoolchildren will not be able to evade their parents’ wrath using whiteout or by tearing the page with the bad grade out of their journal. According to ИА 24.kg, busy parents can now communicate with teachers and administration members to find out how their kids are doing and whether they are having problems in school. “If teachers and parents agree, a proposal could be submitted to appropriate government agencies,” said Askerbek Aliev, head of the Pervomaiskaia district administration in Bishkek.

So how does the SMS Report work? The website of the “Ozat” boarding school for gifted children describes the process as follows: at the end of the school day, an operator logs all entries from the class journal into a database, after which SMS messages are automatically sent to parents’ mobile phones.

The Diesel Forum had a discussion thread on the topic:

Готенок: Not a bad idea. Parents will have better control over their children. But do they all have mobile phones, and if they don’t, can they all afford them?

s@ilor: Wouldn’t it be easier to put this information on the Internet? It seems cheaper any way you look at it.

advocat: I think anyone concerned with how their child is doing in school would be very happy to have such a service. I’d gladly pay 200 som per month to know whether my child’s studies were going well and whether he was skipping school.

Janysh: This kind of service is available on our market, albeit in a lower quality form. A company called JESA facilitates it, and it’s called Mobi-Report. The service informs parents about grades, skipped classes, homework, schedules, and miscellaneous school information. The same company offers entrepreneurs a similar service to provide their employees with (i.e. “Let’s help one another make money.”). Advocat – we pay 220 som per month and are satisfied with the result.

(ODETT): I call the teacher myself and am up to date on my kid’s progress.

Дорого: Pay your teacher this money. She’ll call you everyday.

BKT: It’s a service for lazy parents who don’t have the motivation to call the school or visit to see how they are doing. Those who really care about their kids already know how they’re doing.

Галактика: SMSing grades is lunacy. An internet-based report card is a much better idea. The problem is our schools are not capable of offering parents such a service.

flowers: There is a similar service up and running already. It’s called “Bolochok.” You pay 75 som per month and everyday you receive grades, attendance reports and other information, including parent-teacher conference dates, on your mobile phone. Unfortunately, many school directors refuse to even consider the idea. But I also know parents who use the service. If such a thing were offered at my kid’s school, I would gladly take advantage of it.

Aerin: It’s a good idea and has long been implemented in the 24th District School. The parents get an SMS every day… a list of classes, if a kid skips one he gets an “A(bsent)” or a grade if he had a test… I don’t understand people who are against it. The system doesn’t cancel parent-teacher conferences… It’s simply a great convenience for many parents… My sister is a good student and my parents know this from SMS reports, but they also visit the school often and meet with teachers. Parents of kids who skip school definitely benefit from this, since they are immediately informed and can take action. Sometimes, difficult or problematic kids are hard to monitor; they lie to their parents and conceal poor results…

It is difficult to predict how such a report system will affect the students’ mindset, whether it will make them more responsible or cultivate an appreciation for learning. Certainly, “surveillance” will become more sophisticated, and there will be more standing in the corner. I always thought that parents who didn’t attend school meetings simply didn’t have time to raise their kids. Perhaps, mobile monitoring will help them manage their growing offspring.