The school registrar’s attempt to provide quality service

The role of the Registrar in a school is no longer that of a mere record keeper. It has evolved from keeping and safeguarding student records to data analysis and management relevant to school planning and decision-making. Added functions range from troubleshooting to marketing for the school. For O.B. Montessori, keeping its multipurpose engine going for the past fifty years has been an amazing achievement. Keeping it going for another fifty years will be much tougher.

Keeping cool with grace and courtesy

The Registrar has to keep cool and calm all the time, most especially when there is a perceived manipulation of documents by parents, who try to submit fake diplomas or alter the grades of their children.

Schools sometimes find themselves in the middle of domestic disputes of estranged parents, either regarding the custody of their children or perhaps one of the parties making a surprise visit to their children in school without prior notice. Thus, upon yearly enrollment all parents of preschoolers and grade school children must renew their “fetcher’s card.” We do not allow parents visiting children during school days, more so if the other parent has not been given visiting rights or shared legal custody of their child/children. To avoid scandals, we advise parents to settle their differences at home.

However, there are rewarding incidents when the Registrar’s office staff tours parents through our school. Some gasp in disbelief when they exclaim, “this is the only school we have seen where there is no vandalism in the toilets!” They specially take notice of the “bistro” look of the school eateries furnished with large prints of Van Gogh, Picasso, Monet, Buenaventura paintings and soft piped-in music. Since they are part of the culinary studies for our professional high school stainless steel flatware and porcelain plates are used instead of disposables. Thus we make sure the bistros serve well-balanced healthy food – no sodas and junk food.

A stock or non-stock corporation?

We see our mission to transform all students into self-developing individuals, adhering to the educational method of Dr. Maria Montessori where “man is guided by his inner teacher”. We are an integrated school, offering complete basic education in each campus, from preschool to senior high school. We have a unified instructional program and a strong Child and Community Foundation. The Twin Projects of our community program are Pagsasarili Preschools and Mothercraft Literacy Training course.

O.B. Montessori Center has five campuses in five cities. The main school is located in Greenhills, San Juan City. It averages more than 1,000 students per school and serves 700 preschool students in its low-cost Montessori-based nationwide community program called “Pagsasarili”. The Registrar, to quote eminent education lawyer, Atty. Ulan P. Sarmiento III, “is second only to the school president in importance in managing the institution”. Data maintenance of five schools is a mean feat. Getting support from the various campuses is our advantage.

Maintaining good relations with the general public

The Registrar assists in the formulation, evaluation, revision and/or enforcement of policies for the objectives of the institution. i.e. the school calendar, class schedules, curricular programs, new rules or requirements. It enforces government and school regulations regarding admission, enrollment, crediting and promotions, transfer and graduation. It maintains good relations with the general public, provides customer service and serves as the principal contact person with government agencies. The Registrar also represents the institution in meetings, seminars and workshops with other school officers. It also coordinates with the Publication Office in the school marketing program.

As registration and records officer, the Registrar oversees admission of new students and overall enrollment; supervises student accounting and records evaluation for graduation. It attends to the creation, updating, maintenance and disposition of academic records of students including certificates, grades, transfer credentials and diplomas; receives and controls flow and security of files, verifies and authenticates and assumes full responsibility for all documents released by the office. It approves petitions for correction of personal data in school records such as birth certificate, adoption papers and foreign student study permits from the Bureau of Immigration and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Registrar, as an office head, sets standard operating procedures for the responsibilities of the office, and the qualifications and job description for its personnel. It coordinates training programs and staff development including work assignments and performance evaluation and overall morale of the staff. The Registrar maintains an adequate office including supplies, equipment and furniture. It attends promptly to correspondence, periodic reports and data required by the school or by government regulatory agencies, and request for records and other information. It also performs other duties that may be requested from the office.

A firm pledge to serve our students better

The demand for quality service calls for accuracy and timeliness in the release of information and records from the Registrar’s Office. In O.B. Montessori, our size of operations allows us to centralize preparation and approval of major school records such as F-137 (Transcript of Records) and F-138 (Report Card). Back up files are maintained by the various campuses for security reasons, but constant review by the main school in Greenhills ensures that delivery of documents and services are congruent to the institution’s aims and procedures.

May all of us who have been called to this noble profession of being in the Registrar continue to strengthen education reforms and ensure that these reforms serve our students better.

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