21-09-2012, 01:01 PM
EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
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ABSTRACT
The main purpose of this study is to investigate how an EIMS can be effectively implemented.
Successful management of today's educational system requireseffective policy-making and system monitoring through data and information. Consequently, countrieshave invested significantresources into collecting, processing, integrating, analyzing andreporting data through Educational Information Management Systems (EIMS). However, EIMS is important but not sufficient for overall success, if only its designand development has been limited to information technology enhancements and data storage.
A research methodology was conducted to examine the quality of data collection,the procedure for collecting the data, the analysis and the eventual outcome. According to the study findings, there are several factors which inhibit the effective implementation of an EIMS. However, the major factors are a need to understand the importance of data integration from different resources, understand the importance of the collaborative work among directorates, and build an integrated application for data collection, processing and analyses.
Introduction
In Nigeria EIMS plays a minimal role in supporting planning at either the federal, state or local government levels. However, it would be wrong to assume that EIMS is not used in the planning process since it is beginning to play an important role in facilitating the preparation of strategic plans at the state level. Moreover, the government has a clear understanding of what role EIMS will play in future planning activities, both at the federal and statelevels. Despite the good intention of government it is difficult to establish accurate quantitative targets for future plans dueto the lack of adequate base-line information.
For the outsider it is difficult to understand how the EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM operates due to the different layers of government involved in the collection and collation of education data. For instance, the Federal Ministry of Education, the state Ministries of Education and the various local governmenteducation administrations are all involved in the collection and collation of data. Therelationships between the different layers ofgovernment are defined in legislation butin practice this often becomes blurred. All of these relationships impact on how dataare collected, collated and analyzed, including who is responsible for each of theseactivities. In reforming its EIMS, Nigeria also faces similar problems to thoseexperienced by other countries, including a lack of capacity, limitedcommitment from stakeholders and difficulties associated with the collection of survey data.
What is EIMS?
The definition of Management: Management is an attempt to coordinate the effort of human and material input in order to achieve set objectives. It coordinates the knowledge and the skills of people involved in EIMS activities to achieve the planned objectives. It refers to all the work we do in organising and systematizing the procedure we follow, the equipment we use, the people involved in building and using an EIMS as well as the relationship between the EIMS as a centre, information and its users
The definition of Information: Information is an additional "knowledge" users employ to enhance planning, programming, monitoring, evaluation, review, research for overall management and decision making of educational development. However, information has value only when there is a use for it. The value of information depends on demand; the higher the demand for information, the more value it has.
The definition of a System: A System is working together to form a relationship and vision of the whole. Each component contributes to the proper functioning of the system. We may have a good data collection procedure, good data processing, and analysis in place, but if the result is never put to use in educational development, the system fails to work properly. It is only when the whole system properly functions together that we attain our goals.
The origins of information management
Although earlier uses may exist, information management and information resources management achieved a high visibility in the USA in the mid-1970s as a result of the work of the National Commission on Federal Paperwork, the aim of which was to seek a reduction in the costs incurred by organizations in satisfying the demands for paperwork by the Federal bureaucracies. Ironically, as Porat (1977) notes, the Commission itself required more than 100 information workers and produced a seven-volume report of almost 3,000 pages!
In the management of education, at both the ministry and the school levels, decision-making using available information is a very basic process. Decisions are made on future plans, present activities and the monitoring of such plans and activities. Effective decision-making requires adequate, timely and reliable information and data. There is thus the need to develop effective education information management system to generate information through which sound decisions could be made.
The development of EMIS system in Nigeria
The initial development of EMIS started towards the end of the 1980s and consisted of three inter-connected phases. During the first phase, the requirement for information was driven by civil service reform and the need to ensure that decision- making was based on accurate and valid information. The second phase was driven more by donors and as a consequence experienced implementation difficulties due to lack of ownership and issues surrounding capacity. The most recent phase represents an attempt to overcome mistakes of the past and involve stakeholders at all levels of the process. This focuses resources on developing an EMIS at the state level, as well as support for the institutional structures necessary for coordination at the federal level.
In Nigeria there are two parallel EMIS. Initially, a number of federal agencies, many of whom had state and local level subsidies,were responsible for EMIS. However, as the Universal Basic Education Commission developed their own indicators, they also established their own monitoring systems. In June, 2004, attempts were made to improve data coordination through the establishment of a national EMIS committee (NEMIS). It was anticipated that the NEMIS will help improve coordination of data collection activities and to define the role played by the different structures in this process. The committee comprised representatives from government departments and major development partners, but not state level MoE, State Universal Basic Education Boards and Local Government Education Authorities. The exclusion of the former government bodies is strange in the light of the fact that they are responsible for the data collection.
Challenges Of EIMS
Education Information management Systems have a technicalelement, but they are primarily about the use of information.Using information is a highly specific, often personalactivity that affects work habits, work style, and work flows.Since information use tends to be specific, training andreengineering are a big part of making EIMS effective.
Many old style information systems have ceased to work notbecause they became Obsolete, but because the people supportingthem failed to maintain them properly.
The importance of the EIMS
Information supports strategic planning for education and acts as a diagnostic tool to assess the existing capacity and characteristics of the education system. Theseattributes assist with setting priorities for future development and identifying areas ofgreater need for resource allocation. Information also acts as a monitoring and evaluation mechanism that enables planners and policy makers to assess if the Education Strategic Plan (ESP) is achieving its stated goals.
There is an inevitability about the move to computer-based information in education because efficient information management is a necessary condition for continued educational, social and economic development. In addition, the use of computers to support a wide variety of managerial matters and work functions has become an accomplished fact in the MOE.
Moreover, there is evidence that the EIMS can potentially provide a powerfulmanagement tool capable of contributing to the improvement of educational performance. It enables decision makers to identify problem areas, reduce operational costs and provides a systematic way of addressing educational challenges. If effectively implemented, the EIMS is capable of raising educational awareness, motivating employees to search for innovative solutions and increasing educational efficiency. Furthermore, the EIMS makes efforts to assess the performance of the MOE system. Itmonitors the distribution of resources, and plays an active role in providing information to the decision makers.