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Academic Year

Purpose​

An Academic Year represents a school's operational academic cycle.

It provides the primary time boundary for academic planning, student enrollment, classes, sections, attendance, assessments, fee structures, and reporting.

Most operational academic data within Chilarai is associated with an Academic Year.

Examples include:

  • Student Enrollments
  • Classes
  • Sections
  • Attendance
  • Assessments
  • Fee Structures

Business Context​

Schools operate in academic cycles such as:

  • 2024-2025
  • 2025-2026
  • 2026-2027

Academic Years provide separation between historical, current, and future academic data.

This allows Schools to:

  • Manage current operations
  • Prepare future academic years
  • Access historical academic information
  • Perform reporting and corrections

Relationships​

Academic Year to School​

  • Each Academic Year belongs to exactly one School.
  • A School may contain multiple Academic Years.

Academic Year to Student Enrollment​

  • An Academic Year contains many Student Enrollments.
  • Student Enrollments belong to an Academic Year.

Academic Year to Students​

  • Students participate in an Academic Year through Student Enrollments.
  • Students are not owned by an Academic Year.

Academic Year to Classes​

  • A School contains Classes within an Academic Year.

Academic Year to Sections​

  • Sections are created within an Academic Year.

Academic Year to Attendance​

  • Attendance records are associated with an Academic Year.

Academic Year to Fee Structures​

  • Fee Structures may be defined for an Academic Year.

Key Design Decisions​

Academic Years are School Scoped​

Academic Years are owned by a School.

Different Schools may have different Academic Years, calendars, and timelines.

Multiple Academic Years Supported​

A School may maintain multiple Academic Years simultaneously.

Examples:

  • Historical Academic Years
  • Current Academic Year
  • Future Academic Years

This enables:

  • Historical reporting
  • Future planning
  • Admissions preparation
  • Fee planning
  • Class setup

Single Active Academic Year​

Only one Academic Year may be Active for a School at any given time.

Examples:

Valid:

  • 2024-2025 → Closed
  • 2025-2026 → Active
  • 2026-2027 → Draft

Invalid:

  • 2025-2026 → Active
  • 2026-2027 → Active

Future Academic Years​

Future Academic Years may be created and configured before they become active.

Examples:

  • Classes
  • Sections
  • Fee Structures
  • Admission Planning

may be prepared while the current Academic Year remains active.

Historical Academic Years​

Historical Academic Years remain accessible after closure.

Examples:

  • Reporting
  • Fee verification
  • Attendance corrections
  • Historical reviews

Historical data should not be lost when an Academic Year is closed.

Non-Overlapping Dates​

Academic Year date ranges must not overlap within the same School.

Example:

Invalid:

  • 2025-2026 → 01-Apr-2025 to 31-Mar-2026
  • 2026-2027 → 01-Jan-2026 to 31-Dec-2026

Valid:

  • 2025-2026 → 01-Apr-2025 to 31-Mar-2026
  • 2026-2027 → 01-Apr-2026 to 31-Mar-2027

Attributes​

Identity​

  • AcademicYearId
  • SchoolId
  • Name

Examples:

  • 2025-2026
  • 2026-2027

Dates​

  • StartDate
  • EndDate

Status​

Possible values include:

  • Draft
  • Active
  • Closed
  • Archived

Audit​

  • CreatedAt
  • CreatedBy
  • UpdatedAt
  • UpdatedBy

Status Lifecycle​

Draft​

Academic Year is under preparation.

Examples:

  • Admission planning
  • Class planning
  • Fee structure setup

Users may configure data but the Academic Year is not operational.

Active​

Academic Year is operational.

Only one Academic Year may be Active for a School at a time.

Most day-to-day activities occur within the Active Academic Year.

Closed​

Academic Year has completed.

Historical access remains available.

Operational activities are no longer permitted.

Archived​

Academic Year has been retired from routine usage.

Historical information remains available for audit and reporting purposes.

Administrative Ownership​

School Administrators are responsible for:

  • Creating Academic Years
  • Activating Academic Years
  • Closing Academic Years
  • Managing Academic Year configuration

Academic Year management is scoped to the School.

Constraints​

Active Academic Year​

A School may have only one Active Academic Year.

Name Uniqueness​

Academic Year names must be unique within a School.

Examples:

Valid:

  • 2025-2026
  • 2026-2027

Invalid:

  • 2025-2026
  • 2025-2026

Date Overlap​

Academic Year date ranges must not overlap within a School.

Exclusions​

The following information does not belong directly to the Academic Year entity:

  • Student Records
  • Attendance Records
  • Fee Records
  • Assessment Records
  • User Memberships

These belong to their respective domain entities.

Future Considerations​

The following capabilities may be introduced later:

  • Academic Terms
  • Semesters
  • Trimesters
  • Assessment Calendars
  • Promotion Workflows
  • Academic Year Templates

These capabilities should not require redesign of the Academic Year model.

Summary​

Core decisions:

  • Academic Year is the primary academic boundary for a School.
  • A School may have multiple Academic Years.
  • Only one Academic Year may be Active at a time.
  • Future Academic Years may be configured in advance.
  • Historical Academic Years remain accessible.
  • Academic Year date ranges must not overlap.
  • Academic Years own academic planning and operational scope.