Presentation to the Portfolio Committee by the Department of Education 09 November 2007

1. Presentation to the Portfolio Committee by the Department of Education 09 November 2007 Progress report on the rollout of Education Management Information System (EMIS)

2. Structure of the presentation • Background. • Mandates and Strategies if EMIS. • Improvement in DoE structure. • National/Provincial MTEF Allocations. • 2007/8 Provincial Allocations for EMIS (R’000) • EMIS improvement activities DoE. • Challenges DoE. • EMIS improvement activities PEDs. • Challenges PEDs

3. 1.Background • Inherited a desperate information collection system in 1994. • Ex department each had their own system, new system required for new education system from scratch. • Considerable challenges, however improvements on the go.

4. 1.Background • Recognition of the importance of EMIS both nationally and internationally. • Need for scientific basis for planning and decision-making. • Increasing demand for education statistics. • Challenge in coordinating EMIS with Provincial Education Departments • EMIS was prioritized by government in the medium term budget policy statement of October 2005.

5. 1.Background • EMIS is coordinated through the Heads of Education Department Committee (members DoE, PEDS, HSRC, Research Institute for Education Planning – Free State University, Statssa and Union representatives. • The HEDCOM sub-committee on EMIS is one of the oldest established committees and is still very active. It meet at least 4 times a year and allocates tasks to technical committees. • Additional funding to national and provincial EMIS units for the MTEF period 2006/7 to 2008/9 was made available. Initially some challenges as the allocations for which a bid was made was divided between the equitable share grant and an allocation to the DoE. • National and Provincial EMIS units are jointly managing an EMIS improvement plan using this priority funding to achieve the EMIS improvement strategy.

6. 2. Mandates and Strategies of EMIS • “In terms of the National Education Policy Act,1996(Act No.27 of 1996),the Minister of Education must monitor and evaluate the standards of education provision, delivery and performance, to a large extent through the use of national education statistics”. (Source: National Education Information Policy ,2004 ) • Therefore the aim of EMIS is to promote the development and operation of education and training management information systems for accountability, planning and monitoring to achieve quality and effective service delivery in the national education system.

7. 2. Mandates and Strategies of EMIS • The National Education Information Policy was Gazetted in August 2004 (No. 26710) in terms of Section 3(4) (a) of the National Education Policy Act (NEPA),1996 (Act No.27 of 1996). • In terms of EMIS Policy Education information standards are to be developed. Six of the standards were completed and published in Government Gazette 29759 during February 2007. Standards 6 – 13 will be finalized by March 2008.

8. 2. Mandates and Strategies of EMIS Vision for an Integrated Education Management Information System • All data should be collected from a single source system at institutional level to provide a single entry point of truth; • All operational and transversal systems must be built on top of the institutional systems and must be available for use at both a provincial and national level (may be virtual not physical) to provide a single operation of truth; • The reporting layer (or business intelligence) will be a single layer on top of the operational systems to provide one single integrated view of the truth.

9. 2. Mandates and Strategies of EMIS HEDCOM adopted a strategy is to move away from aggregated data collection through survey forms to the collection of unit record data from the source systems e.g. school record keeping systems. Activities in the EMIS Improvement Plan: • The implementation of the SA-SAMS school administration system as a basic standard for all school data collection in order to improve and standardise data at the source level – this is the first step in building a national unit record system; • Develop and implement the national unit record information and tracking system; (DoE to develop and provinces to implement from March 2008) • Develop and implement business intelligence reporting systems; • Improve the quality of all data through data audits, the implementation of data standards, the enhancement of systems and training in data management areas

10. INTEGRATED EMIS BI Reporting Layer Reporting Layer LURITS NEIMS OTHER Operational + Transversal Systems Source Level SA-SAMS School Level

11. 3.Improvement in DoE Structure • A new Directorate at DoE level established to focus specifically on national systems design and development was established in April 2007. • The EMIS Directorate has been restructured to improve capacity in the area of Data management, Data Reporting & Dissemination, Statistical Analysis and Geographic Information Systems. • The third component of the improved information, monitoring and evaluation function of the DOE is fulfilled by the Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate that specializes in data analysis and research.

12. Information, Monitoring and Evaluation Systems design and development Process design and development Education Management Systems Data collection, management and reporting Statistical processes Education Management Information System Research, analysis and reporting on system and indicators Monitoring and Evaluation

13. 4.National/Provincial MTEF Allocations for EMIS (R’000)

14. 5. 2007/8 Provincial Allocations for EMIS (R’000)

15. 6. EMIS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES 1. Learner Unit Record Information and Tracking System The LURITS project is based on four pillars: • The technical system development • The deployment platform system architecture and infrastructure • Provincial planning and support for implementation • Development of business processes, user guidelines and ultimately policy to underpin the system

16. 6. EMIS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES

17. 6. EMIS IMPROVEMENTG ACTIVITIES 2. SA-SAMS (School Administration and Management System) • SA-SAMS forms the basis of the learner unit record information and tracking system as SA-SAMS will feed the LURITS with the learner data from school level and provide the unit record data standard to schools using other school administration packages. • The Provincial Education Departments are rolling out SA-SAMS to the schools. • The role of the DoE is to maintain the SA-SAMS package to ensure that it meets the needs of the National Curriculum Statement and other relevant policies.

18. 6. EMIS IMPROVEMENTG ACTIVITIES

19. 6. EMIS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES • The DoE signed a PROTOCOL with Stats SA on 04 October 2007 in pursuit of earning Official Statistics status (as stipulated in the Statistics Act of 1999) and also complying with Government-Wide Monitoring and Evaluation System. • Compliance with South African Statistical Quality Assurance Framework (SASQAF). • Collaboration with UNICEF for the enhancement of EMIS especially in regards to monitoring children's rights.

20. 6. EMIS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES • Reports published by the department: • School Realities. Published annually as from 2005 to date • Education Statistics in South Africa at a Glance from 2000. • These reports and other information are available on the website. • Published National Guidelines on Completing the Annual Survey for Ordinary schools. • Electronic data capturing capability. • Capacity assessment of PEDs undertaken

21. 7. CHALLENGES FACED BY THE DEPARTMENT • Late submission of data – situation improving year by year but not desirable • Lack of skills in advance statistical analysis particularly in education and EMIS – looking at collaboration with HEIs • Difficulty in recruiting and retaining scarce skills – innovative salary packages being explored

22. 8. EMIS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES – EC SA-SAMS : *Trained 1,400 of 1,500 schools on the implementation of SA-SAMS. *Trained circuit managers on the completion of the Annual School Survey. *Purchased 95 computers to support schools and districts.

23. 8. EMIS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES – EC Business Intelligence Solution * Advance stage of implementation of a BI solution for the province. Data Quality Audit *Audit has been done in the ABET,FET and SNE surveys. *Awaiting quotes for the auditing of the ASS in ordinary schools.

24. 8. EMIS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES – EC • Data sets are submitted within Gazetted submission dates. • Department is in the process of appointing EMIS representatives at the District Level. • DCES and SES posts have been advertised and will be filled by 1 April 2008. • Captured data has been quality assured by using verification tool provided by DoE. • Quality of the 2007 ASS has been improved by implementing quality assurance at the District Level. • Captured data has been quality assured by using verification tool provided by DoE.

25. 8. EMIS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES – FS • The department has rolled out SA-SAMS to all public schools as first phase of the unit record collection. • 488 schools has been trained on the use of SA-SAMS. • EMIS-Online was designed and implemented during 2006/7 financial year. http://emis.fsdoe.fs.gov.za • Resources(switches&100m cables) were supplied to Districts to install an Administrative Network in 400 schools. • In the process of appointing Six contract workers to do training at school level. • A physical learner head-count was done in August in 100 of the schools and discrepancies were pointed out to school principals.

26. 8. EMIS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES – GP • SA SAMS :1248 schools has been trained,1248 schools data captured and provided to schools, stored on CDs out of the total target group of 1280. • Business Intelligence Solution: Data has been linked to GIS and can be spatially mapped and analyzed. • Data Quality :All data sets has been coded according to the draft national data dictionary and standards. • District Capacity : EMIS is represented at the district level by Policy and Planning Unit. • Capacity Building : Staff development on statistical analysis

27. 8. EMIS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES – KZN • SA-SAMS *Technical assistants appointed to rollout SA-SAMS to schools. *500 schools provided with a computer, printer, UPS unit, MS Office and SA SAMS preloaded per school. *514 schools have been trained on the use of SA SAMS. *A further 500 scheduled for training by 02 December 2007 while 1100 will be trained between January 2008 and 31 March 2008. *A call centre aimed at assisting schools resolve technical problems (both software and hardware) is almost ready for deployment (waiting relocation from DBN to PMB).

28. 8. EMIS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES – KZN Working Electronic Data Capturing (EDC) system • Hardware already installed and deployment of solution is underway. • Two officials from the province have received training on administering the EDC system . Implementation of BI • Webfocus has been purchased and installed. • Reports based on the Snap survey of 2003 – 2006 have already been developed. • A number of SEMS (ward managers) being trained as part of the pilot deployment of the system at district level • Data quality audits • The audit that was scheduled for June – August 2007 was rescheduled for January 2008 due to the industrial action. • A sample audit of data provided for different surveys conducted in different institutions will become a standard feature from 2008

29. 8. EMIS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES – LP SA-SAMS • Installed SA SAMS in the Dinaledi schools (Vhembe District). • The target for this quarter is to have 902 schools using SA- SAMS. • Training on the use of SA-SAMS will follow with the help of the service provider. Lurits implementation • Implementation plans for LURITS have already been developed with the help of the National DoE. Business Intelligence tool • EMIS is in the process of procuring a business intelligence tool (data mining and analysis tool) from potential service providers. Data quality • Training is provided to school personnel who are responsible for filling out the survey forms by EMIS staff . This has led to a tremendous increase in the data quality.

30. 8. EMIS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES – MP • SA-SAMS : 200 schools trained on SA-SAMS. • LURITS IMPLEMENTATION : EMIS staff trained on LURITS implementation. • Data Quality Audits : 198 Schools Headcount on Snap Survey complete.

31. 8. EMIS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES – NW • A total of 1545 schools have already been given the SA-SAMS PC. • A total of 447 schools have been connected to the internet. • A total of 224 schools have already received SA-SAMS training. • EMIS room which housed an EDC scanner and desktops is fully operational. • Snap Survey 2008 for Ordinary Schools will be captured using EDC( DoE support is required for this exercise)

32. 8. EMIS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES – NW • The NWED GIS is currently being developed further to work more efficiently at Regional level were the ECD,ABET and Ordinary School information is updated • The Regional EMIS Officials are being trained to train Principals • The headcount in all of NWED institutions has been completed and the information compared with that of Snap, Annual and Post Provisioning Model Survey

33. 8. EMIS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES – NC • SA-SAMS : Conducted SA-SAMS training in 82 schools. • LURITS : Completed the rollout plan for LURITS. • BI System: Placed an order for the procurement of a data base and BI system.

34. 8. EMIS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES – WC SA-SAMS rollout • Busy with tender to get SAMS webbased and linked to CEMIS. Learner Unit Record – CEMIS • Is in place in WC at Public and SNE schools. Online Promotion process reviewed. Online SNE ASS survey in progress.

35. 8. EMIS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES – WC Electronic Data Capture • Investigating scanning and filing of school promotion schedules linked to Business Intelligence tool and retrieval procedures. Business Intelligence Project • School data quality assessments queries and staff establishment printing and distribution. Data Quality improvement • EIS data verification query clearance activities, Cemis error and correction reports.

36. 9. CHALLENGES – EC • SKILLS AND CAPACITY • Only 26% of posts filled according to the current organogram. • The following posts has been identified as critical: • Survey Statistician, Database administrators, Programmers, Business, Intelligence Manager, GIS Manager and GIS, Technicians and admin. • ACTIVITIES BEING HAMPERED • Onsite support for schools on SA-SAMS, Helpdesk function for SA-SAMS, Producing Statistical Reports and GIS Analysis.

37. 9. CHALLENGES – FS • Major problems being encountered is low levels of basic computers skills. • Delays in return of survey forms from the institutions to EMIS unit. • Need to increase the EMIS officials at District level and Head Office level.

38. 9. CHALLENGES – GP • Lack of human resource both at district and school level for implementing LURITS and SA-SAMS. However, these posts have been advertised in the last month and would be filled by the end of the year. • A critical area is that the lack of admin support at school level dedicated to EMIS (SA-SAMS) that could impact negatively on the quality, completion and timeous return of the data.

39. 9. CHALLENGES – GP • Poor network connectivity and band width capacity at districts and schools. • Data Quality – need more intensive training of school staff on completion of forms and information. • Slow return of survey forms • Difficulty in receiving information from some independent schools. • Incomplete completion of forms result in continuous follow up resulting in the delay in sealing and finalizing the dataset.

40. 9. CHALLENGES • Technical assistants appointed on contract being snapped by employers offering permanent employment. A recruitment drive aimed at attracting unemployed IT graduates is currently underway. • Some schools not allowing technical assistants to install software and train personnel. A general circular will be issued to schools explaining the rationale behind SA SAMS and how this ties up with the envisaged LURITS process. • More than 1500 schools do not have electricity. The Department is looking at the feasibility of using solar power in conjunction with laptop computers . • Many schools do not have admin personnel required to administer the SA-SAMS.

41. 9. CHALLENGES – LP • Shortage of staff within the unit. • Senior Manager has been appointed and recruitment of Managers is being finalized. • Manual capturing of survey forms. Computerizing schools (with the help of IT) with the potential to install survey tools for electronic data capturing. • Development of the EMIS provincial EMIS strategy still underway.

42. 9. CHALLENGES – MP • Delay in the allocation of tenders by SITA delay the projects. • Lack of capacity and shortage of skilled personnel.

43. 9. CHALLENGES – NC • Delay in procurement. • Delay in submission of surveys from schools and districts. • Delay in the appointment of EMIS District personnel hampers the decentralization of the capturing, verification and validation. • The submission of inaccurate ASS data by schools impact negatively on EMIS reporting time frames.

44. 9. CHALLENGES – NW • Training, advocacy, monitoring and support of Schools on SAMS is behind schedule. • Have however trained 21 Data Typists and 28 Education Development Support Centre Managers who will be responsible for training all the schools. • Internet Connectivity of Schools using MTN 3-G cards to cover schools is a challenge - There is a need to explore other cellular providers or an alternative solution.

45. 9. CHALLENGES – WC • Theft of equipment and infrastructure. • Limited resource capacity • The process of procurement through SITA is delaying the implementation of SA-SAMS rollout in WC.

46. THANK YOU