Countrywide data collection system for government schools and education facilities

GINA, GUYANA, Thursday, January 26, 2017

The Management Information System (MIS) Unit of the Ministry of Education is working to complete a unified data information system which provides a complete database of all the government schools, institutions and Department of Education, spread across the country.

The Education Management Information System will allow for ‘real time’ details including enrolments, pupil-to-teacher ratios, students’ performance among other areas for policy making, evaluation and distribution of resources, Head of the MIS Unit of the Ministry of Education, Yoganand Indarsingh told the Government Information Agency (GINA) in a recent interview. “What this solution would allow us to do,  is for schools to be able to upload and track data at their level as well as individuals within the department and central ministry to be able to access that information in real time,” he said.

Under the Secondary Education Improvement Programme, a consultant has been hired to work with the MIS Unit to create the system, Indarsingh explained. He said that, that is a system which  allows for teachers, administrators, and key resource personnel to share and modify the information which  would be created.

Indarsingh said that in terms of the central repository for the data, it will be hosted online, on “the cloud.” He said this will ensure that the data is accessible from anywhere, wherever there is an internet connection. “It means that that data can be updated, it can be accessed from teachers and administrators within the schools, and from the department of education, officials, central ministry personnel, even if those individuals are at home,” he pointed out.

Indarsingh said that there would be security built into the system to ensure that only those persons authorised would be able to access and update data. The security measures would also allow for levels of privilege in the system as well, he said.

The MIS Unit has commenced rolling out the system within 20 secondary schools. “We have already started with these schools in terms of uploading electronic data that they have available on their students; their bio data, performance, attendance, so that when we have configured the EMIS solution, we could quickly import those digital data into the  solutions and we can start with those schools,” Indrasingh explained.

The  system will also be expanded to the additional secondary and primary schools as internet connectivity through the eGovernance Agency reaches those schools. The Head of the MIS Unit said that the Unit is looking to have the system fully customised for launch by September.

The Education Management Information System (MIS) is a key component of the Ministry of Education efforts aimed at improving the management of the sector.

 

By: Macalia Santos