:)Hie everyone

I need help in understanding who the customer is in a preschool. Is it the child only or it is both the child and the parent or guardian?

Muntuza

:)Hie everyone

I need help in understanding who the customer is in a preschool. Is it the child only or it is both the child and the parent or guardian?

Muntuza

Welcome to the Cove, Muntuza :D

I suppose it depends on how far you want to stretch the definition. Certainly students are customers, as are their parents/guardians, and this is particularly true if parents are paying for the school's services. In general a customer is a person or entity who pays for and/or or receives products or services.

The fundamental question of who is the customer of an educational organization was discussed in this thread (http://elsmar.com/Forums/showthread.php?p=116874). Unfortunately, even when we bring the appropriate ISO document < ISO IWA2 Document
International Workshop Agreement 2 — Quality Management Systems — Guidelines for the application of ISO 9001:2000 on Education > a clear answer is not provided.

My take is that, when it comes to Education, the concept of different stakeholders (such as the pupils, their parents or supporters, Society at large, Government, etc...), all of them with varying degrees have a component of customer and interested in the quality of the educational product.

Thread was moved to a different forum, and retitled with a more specific title. Feel free to contact me or another moderator if there is any problem.:)

Is pre-school doing anything to prepare them for kindergarten (I assume not since it is not mandatory). If it were then the kindergarten system would also be a customer.

:)Hie everyone

I need help in understanding who the customer is in a preschool. Is it the child only or it is both the child and the parent or guardian?

Muntuza

Customers? Who are the beneficiaries of the service your provide?

Child
Parents/Guardians
Family
Community

Stijloor.

To understand the answer we must explain that there are internal and external customers.

External customers are the ones who benefit from the goods and/or services provided: the child, the parent, the community, and the system that expects the child's performance, as in the district if testing requirements are involved with funding being granted.

Internal customers are the people whose performance is impacted by your performance. Fellow teachers, teaching assistants, and the school's administration where they become involved with the child, for example in behavior issues.

There! That sounds like a lot doesn't it? It is a lot; our performance has farther reaching consequences than many people suppose.

:)Hie everyone

I need help in understanding who the customer is in a preschool. Is it the child only or it is both the child and the parent or guardian?

MuntuzaWhat prompted your question? Are you developing a quality system for a preschool?

Society.

You know, Pondo, that's one of the best one-word responses that I have seen. :applause::yes:I totally agree with you. Now, I challenge you to explain how society benefits from pre-school education!

Having just read Sidney's response in another thread - 'ISO 9001 Nuggets of Information - A Short Snipet of Info on ISO Each Week' where the sowing concept was used, I think preschools are sowing the seeds for society. Therefore society have an interest in pre-schools (what they teach, how they do it, etc)

Society.Only philosophically.

hi guys,

Don't we forget customer can be internal and external.

from ASQ glossary.....
Internal customer - The recipient within an organization of another person’s or department’s output (product, service or information).

External customer - A person or organization that receives a product, service or information but is not part of the organization supplying it.

The Parents (or guardians) of the child. The child doesn't pay, the parents do, in one way or another. As a parent who wasted $10,000 one year on private schooling, then sent my sons to schools in the 'state' system in England and here in the USA, and finally they were schooled by their mother (a qualified teacher), I can tell you that I am the customer!

The private school sent them home bored, even with only 5 kids in class, the British school had one computer between 32 students and I can attest to the results from a home based education!

My sons are the result of the the education process. I was the customer, who took the risk, selected the supplier and paid. Sure society benefits, the boys got their education, but without the customer paying, (or in my case) providing the resources (cash) and opportunities for my sons, no one else would have bothered with them.

Anything else is simply philosophy..............

I have a child in pre-school and I agree with Andy.
I'm paying for a place where my child is happy, learning social skills, and learning things appropriate for his age.

Another interesting topic. Customers are also known as stakeholders and in the education field, when the recipient is a kid or minor, the stakeholder who is often the parent or guardian is the customer. If you want to go into details, I think the decision maker (husband, wife or guardian) is more appropriate to be considered as the customer and often he/she may not be responsible for paying the bills.

IWA2 talk about 'interested parties' which I infer to be people who have an interest in the education process of any child. Parties like society, education departments, schools, etc.

The original poster had written in her profile that she is trying to implement ISO 9001 in her child care center and the answer to her question is exactly what was posted by Andy. The interest of 'interested' parties should be fulfilled if you had follow curriculum guidelines laid down by the educational authorities. Whereas, the interest of internal customers should be address by your quality management system.

To reiterate, your customers are the parents. They make the decision on whether to use your service or not and they pay the bills.

The private school sent them home bored, even with only 5 kids in class, the British school had one computer between 32 students and I can attest to the results from a home based education!While the question of customer status is arguably philosophical, I think this remark was telling. If he felt bored or engaged, would his sense of satisfaction (or its lack) qualify him as a customer?

I watched the similar gamut of service levels when I was in the school. The brightest students were often grossly under served, sometimes their eyes almost rolling into the backs of their heads with boredom. They handled it in various ways, but from my vantage point as an ed tech I built my story, and I'm sticking to it! :D

While the question of customer status is arguably philosophical, I think this remark was telling. If he felt bored or engaged, would his sense of satisfaction (or its lack) qualify him as a customer?


I agree Jen, but since this was a kindergarden, the boredom only manifest itself as doodling on worksheets and something else innocuous.......their mother recognized it and took action, but the owner of the (private) school rejected her concerns as 'meddlesome'.......The boys wouldn't have been aware of the lack of customer satisfaction!