OpenEMIS  to  Collect  and  Report  Data  on  Education  (20  February  2013)  

 OpenEMIS   is   a   generic   and   open   source   Education   Management  Information   System   (EMIS)   designed   to   collect   and   report   data   on  education   systems.   This   sector-­‐wide   tool   is   designed   to   strengthen  

statistical   information  on  education  with  an  agile  and  cost-­‐effective  EMIS  that  can  be  easily  adapted  to  the  needs  of  information  producers  and  users.  The  flexibility  of  OpenEMIS  allows  for  its  use  in  a  variety  of  situations  including  ministries  of  education,  national  statistics  offices,  and  for  education  administrators  at  the   regional,   local   and   school   levels.   The  OpenEMIS   initiative   is  being   coordinated  by  UNESCO  with   a  strong  technical  support  team.      “Everyone   understands   the   importance   of   quality,   timely   and   transparent   data   for   education   planning  and  management.  However,   it   is   true   that   the  development  of   an  effective   EMIS   is   a   complicated  and  expensive  undertaking  even  in  the  best  of  circumstances,”  says  Pierre  Chapelet,  Programme  Specialist  at  UNESCO.  “This  is  especially  true  for  developing  countries  where  many  are  struggling  in  the  search  for  an  EMIS  system  that  not  only  meets  the  needs  of  various  levels  of  management  and  stakeholders,  but  is  also  user  friendly  and  within  a  more  reasonable  budget.  OpenEMIS  may  be  the  answer  for  countries  seeking  a  simple   but   effective   solution   for   establishing   or   strengthening   their   national   system   for   collection,  processing  and  utilization  of  education  data.”    

 

One  of   the  main  goals  of  OpenEMIS   is   to  advocate   for  better  access   to   timely  education  data,  with  an  end-­‐goal   of   promoting  more   informed   decision-­‐making.   If   governments   are   better   able   to   assess   and  monitor  their  education  system,  they  can  make  more  informed  decisions  and  target  areas  in  need  in  near  real  time.      Since  the  system  is  integrated  with  DevInfo,  data  collected  can  easily  be  disseminated  via  tables,  graphs  and  maps  –  making  it  easier  to  monitor  progress  and  quickly  identify  disparities  and  gaps.    “We  are  very  excited  about  this  initiative,”  says  Karl  Turnbull,  Programme  Advisor  for  OpenEMIS.  “The  application  has  been  designed  and  engineered  based  on  many  years  of  experience  and  feedback  from  the  field,  using  the  latest   technologies   available.   To   my   knowledge,   this   is   the   first   time   that   a   generic,   royalty-­‐free,  

enterprise-­‐class   EMIS   initiative   has   been   made   available   for   countries   to   use,”   says   Karl   Turnbull,  Programme  Advisor,  OpenEMIS.    For  more  information,  please  visit  www.openemis.org  or  email  contact@openemis.org.