The Importance of Student Satisfaction

Student satisfaction is one of the main markers for judging the quality of education provided by higher education institutions, but generally speaking it isn’t used by parents or school boards as a method to judge the effectiveness of education at lower levels. This seems to go against what a lot of research shows, which is that happiness; satisfaction, has a massive impact on children’s attitude and approach towards education in general.

Student satisfaction can be an important measurement tool for a variety of environmental factors. It can be used to gauge the opinions of students regarding school resources, teacher effectiveness and the learning environment. It can then be used to check the progress institutions have made in their attempts to combat issues like bullying and the lack of inclusion some students feel.

To a degree, the lack of use of this important measurement is thanks to how we patronise students. We value their results way above their opinion about the education they receive, particularly in younger age groups. To an extent this is reasonable, but school boards could do well by looking into how they can include the opinions of the student body in their decision making.