ICT playing a big role in Ministry of Education

GINA, GUYANA, Monday, January 30, 2017

The Ministry of Education is taking steps to ensure that its budgeting and planning processes are more streamlined and transparent.

Head of the Management Information System (MIS) Unit of the Ministry of Education, Yoganand Indarsingh, told the Government Information Agency (GINA), that for the next budget preparation cycle, the ministry will make available a financial budget preparation solution to the managers within the sector.

The solutions will help the managers to predict scenarios and identify significant correlation in data that will allow for the creation of a more accurate budget. The solution would work, by allowing the managers to input activities and tasks for each department and the budgets relative to those activities and tasks.

Indarsingh explained that through the solution, the managers would then be able to consolidate and aggregate the data to produce figures that would be part of their work plan and cash flows..

Indarsingh noted that the implementation of the solution would significantly reduce the manual processes (paper work) in terms of putting together the budgets for the various departments.  He said that the solution will  allow the ministry to easily consolidate and budget for various activities.

Meanwhile, as part of facilitating better decisions, streamlining routine processes and driving operational efficiencies in 2017, the ministry would also be looking  to ensure that the Information Communication Technology (ICT)  software being used in the  schools and the various departments of the ministry are appropriately certified.

The move is also in keeping with the mandate of the Ministry of Public Telecommunications for all the government ministries and agencies to ensure that all software programmes are appropriately licensed.

Indarsingh noted that the public education sector is a major user of ICT hardware and software. He said the MIS Unit will be moving to ensure that a significant part of this user base is compliant.

One of the key software is the Microsoft Operating System. Indarsingh explained that the ministry is in discussions with Microsoft to see if it can obtain a volume licensing package that would make it very affordable for the schools to be licensed. He explained that the ministry would be starting with the licensing of the ICT software and programmes at the secondary schools.

Indarsingh noted that licensing package that the MIS Unit would be using would allow for all computer systems within the secondary schools as well as computer devices that students and teachers would be using to come under the licensing agreement. This will ensure that the students could have their personal devices   running a licensed copy of Microsoft office, he said.

 

By: Macalia Santos