An excuse to do something stupid
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Identification Cards
The school is in a haste to implement its “No ID-No Entry” policy that it directed its teachers-in-charge to urgently create temporary identification cards. These cards are just printed on paper, with a 1x1 photo of the student glued in front, laminated, and affixed with a ribbon to be placed around the neck. These cards are issued because the actual identification cards are not due to be released anytime soon.
The problem begins with the implementation. All TICs are required to create these cards for their respective classes, but there was no template handed down to the TICs where they will simply type in the names of their students. This approach led to several problems: (1) the identification cards are not exactly alike across batches, (2) the material used for the cards are not alike across batches: some batches used colored cardboard, others settled for scratch paper, (3) there was resentment from proactive TICs who felt ripped off when the late movers simply asked for the cards to be “saved as”, after these proactive TICs spent a lot of time designing the cards, (4) the waste of time and resources because this directive was issued when classes have already started and the teachers already had teaching loads on top of their administrative loads. Ink, paper, photos, and laminating plastic will also be consumed for this temporary measure.
There are several solutions that I see, each applicable to different levels of the problem:
1. Instead of verbally directing the TICs, a template could have been prepared ahead of time which will be disseminated to the TICs as a document file. The TIC will simply input the students’ names, grade levels, and the TIC’s name to the file. This could have saved the time of TICs who designed the cards from scratch, and their resentment of the freeloaders. This would also have made the appearance of the cards consistent.
2. The temporary cards could have been prepared as early as the summer break, when the teachers did not have any teaching loads. Considering that the class lists are not available during the summer break, they could have left the important fields blank, to be manually filled up later by the TIC.
3. Not apply the “No ID-No Entry” policy at all, until the official identification cards have been printed and issued to the students. The school is relatively small anyway, and outsiders are easily identified.
4. Issue ID cards that are used throughout particular grade levels and countersign them every year. For example, a Grade 1 student will be issued an ID card that will be used until the student reaches Grade 3, and the card will simply be countersigned for Grades 2 and 3. The same process will be applied for Grades 4 to 6, and high school. Instead of having to print new identification cards every year, identification cards will only be printed for new students and incoming Grade 1, Grade 4, and First Year students. This saves resources (ID cards), allows the “No ID-No Entry” policy to be implemented immediately with few exceptions, and limits the scope of the temporary IDs to three batches instead of ten.
I’m not looking to climb any mountains this year, with the wedding date fast approaching, so I’ll probably be talking about school stuff for the next few posts.
The problem begins with the implementation. All TICs are required to create these cards for their respective classes, but there was no template handed down to the TICs where they will simply type in the names of their students. This approach led to several problems: (1) the identification cards are not exactly alike across batches, (2) the material used for the cards are not alike across batches: some batches used colored cardboard, others settled for scratch paper, (3) there was resentment from proactive TICs who felt ripped off when the late movers simply asked for the cards to be “saved as”, after these proactive TICs spent a lot of time designing the cards, (4) the waste of time and resources because this directive was issued when classes have already started and the teachers already had teaching loads on top of their administrative loads. Ink, paper, photos, and laminating plastic will also be consumed for this temporary measure.
There are several solutions that I see, each applicable to different levels of the problem:
1. Instead of verbally directing the TICs, a template could have been prepared ahead of time which will be disseminated to the TICs as a document file. The TIC will simply input the students’ names, grade levels, and the TIC’s name to the file. This could have saved the time of TICs who designed the cards from scratch, and their resentment of the freeloaders. This would also have made the appearance of the cards consistent.
2. The temporary cards could have been prepared as early as the summer break, when the teachers did not have any teaching loads. Considering that the class lists are not available during the summer break, they could have left the important fields blank, to be manually filled up later by the TIC.
3. Not apply the “No ID-No Entry” policy at all, until the official identification cards have been printed and issued to the students. The school is relatively small anyway, and outsiders are easily identified.
4. Issue ID cards that are used throughout particular grade levels and countersign them every year. For example, a Grade 1 student will be issued an ID card that will be used until the student reaches Grade 3, and the card will simply be countersigned for Grades 2 and 3. The same process will be applied for Grades 4 to 6, and high school. Instead of having to print new identification cards every year, identification cards will only be printed for new students and incoming Grade 1, Grade 4, and First Year students. This saves resources (ID cards), allows the “No ID-No Entry” policy to be implemented immediately with few exceptions, and limits the scope of the temporary IDs to three batches instead of ten.
I’m not looking to climb any mountains this year, with the wedding date fast approaching, so I’ll probably be talking about school stuff for the next few posts.
:: posted by stoned raccoon, 1:18 AM
