ISO 9001 Requirements for Education Institutions

[StMichael]

The education sector is slightly different and that's why ISO came out with a guide: IWA2 - Guidelines for the application of ISO 9001:2000 in education.

And this is a "guideline", yes?

Customer - includes the student or learner, parents (especially if the child is young), client or purchaser (sponsors), end-user (the organization that benefits from learning achieved by the learner)

As an ex-educator myself, I find it difficult to see why the young learner is a customer. Undergraduates and graduates students as customers, I can see that, but why is a young learner considered a customer?

It is very important, to me, to define your targets correctly. If the pre-school kid is a customer, that you have to service *him*. It is quite obvious, to many of us who were teachers, that the actual person we have to "please" are the parents, who expect us to educate their child.

Are there any reasons specifically, to consider a young learner a customer? I remembered arguing like crazy with that Principal over this point, and we agreed to disagree.

 

[harry]

I find it difficult to see why the young learner is a customer

I don't see a problem with this at all. Both the parent and the child are your customer - one to receive your education product and the other to pay. When the child is young, the parents play a big part - such as going to see teachers and discuss about academic performance, complain about teaching methods, academic progress of child, teachers performance etc. You see it often for the kindergarten stage (at least true over here). As the child grows up, the parents play less and less role, other than paying fees - but they still have an interest.

On the other hand, the child does have influence - if the kid started crying and refusing to go to school, parents may be tempted to change school (this kind of things are not infrequent especially at the kindergarten level)

 

[StMichael]

Both the parent and the child are your customer - one to receive your education product and the other to pay.

And hence the issue comes again from defining the product differently. Back to the idea given above, of the renovation project, which is essentially similar to what teachers are doing. We take a child, do something to him, and return him to the parent and society with added-value. So can we actually say that the added value is the real product and not the child (advocated by somashekar)?

If the child is the customer, it does mean that we *serve* him and give him the service. But who actually wants the service? Trust me, not the young kid (who'd rather play). It's the parents and the government (for state schools) who want the service, and is evaluating it.

On the other hand, the child does have influence - if the kid started crying and refusing to go to school, parents may be tempted to change school (this kind of things are not infrequent especially at the kindergarten level)

This is similar to the type of "customer property" you receive having an influence on how you can add value. Educating a compliant studious kid is a different ball game from educating the ADHD genius. One cannot define the kid as the customer simply because he has influence.

If educators define young kids as the customer, it is next to impossible to get any education going.

 

[somashekar]

I have not read the IWA2, however it is easy to presume student at any level as customer, since we easily can see and think customer to be a person from our day to day life. At a very high level of learning perhaps, I am now inclined to see customer as student, but again as I used the word "guardian" it could be the sponsor, industry or anyone who is equally interested in the education of that student customer. If my education institution is for distant learning, then in this it becomes so easy to relate to all students as customers, as we begin to send and receive course papers and test papers from each student one to one, or manage students from a secure website.
There is a fine line, and needs very broad and same time deeper understanding.
May be as a sidenote, who pays the institution for the service rendered is the customer ?

 

[StMichael]

At a very high level of learning perhaps, I am now inclined to see customer as student,

At the undergraduate and post-graduate level, the student is most definitely the customer, even if they do not pay for it - they are now responsible for their own learning.

 

[somashekar]

ummm, should I say yes, ... or may be !!!
Taking examples from my place, there are several instances of parents wanting their ward to take up science streme and eventually engineering or medicine, while the ward has no inclination or competency., AND
several instances of ward wanting to take up science streme even with minimum secondary grading and the parents (haha, my customer ) being rich enough to pay capitation fee and admit into science, at undergarduate and graduate level.
In both scenario, the career guidance and student profiling for streme of higher education is lacking, and money comes into play.
Admissions happen and education institutions get less than good customer property (you say customer ... ) to also teach and perhaps make them good engineers and doctors or whatever. (not to speak of some troublesome customer property at times ... that the education institute have to handle) ~~~~~

 

[StMichael]

Taking examples from my place, there are several instances of parents wanting their ward to take up science streme and eventually engineering or medicine, while the ward has no inclination or competency., AND
several instances of ward wanting to take up science streme even with minimum secondary grading and the parents (haha, my customer ) being rich enough to pay capitation fee and admit into science, at undergarduate and graduate level.

It is a sad day for education indeed, when such things happen. What is the institution doing then, when money overrides education quality? It seems to be happening in so many places...

 

[Big Jim]

Bear in mind that IAW2 is strictly a guidance document. You cannot become registered to it. It is composed with "shoulds", not "shalls".

As guidance, it is an excellent document.