The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has on July 7, 2020, handed over Information Communication Technology (ICT) equipment and supplies to the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) to support the operations of the Ministry’s Situation Room.
The equipment, which has been procured with financial support from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), includes laptops computers, printers, tablets and scanners. These will be used by teams in the Situation Room in Freetown and the districts to support the ongoing use of MBSSE’s EduTrac platform, a mobile phone-based data collection system for the real-time monitoring of schools. Anti-virus software and voltage stabilizers form part of the consignment of supplies which the Ministry has also received.
Since 2015, the MBSSE, with support from UNICEF, has used EduTrac to both disseminate and gather data from schools across the country. Data is collected on key education indicators such as pupils and teachers’ attendance, school supervision visits, and school infrastructure, including data from the most hard-to-reach areas. The new equipment and supplies will help to improve the current efficiency of the Situation Room and EduTrac system.
“The ICT equipment and supplies will facilitate the generation of real time data that is critical for informed policy intervention and decision making. This is a boost to the attainment of the objectives of the Free Quality School Education Programme and also that of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) – to increase equitable access to education and improve learning outcomes for children in Sierra Leone, said Amara Sowa, National Programme Coordinator, Free Quality School Education Programme.
The EduTrac system has been instrumental in providing teachers and school authorities with information on the COVID 19 crisis and response, while also helping the Ministry Headquarters to have a clear and accurate picture from schools across the country. Noting the current steps to partially re-open schools for exam classes across Sierra Leone, collection and dissemination of timely and accurate data will help ensure that decisions on children’s welfare and schools’ operations are made in a timely and efficient manner.
“The ability to access credible, up-to-date information about the situation of schools and of pupils is critical, especially during times of emergency. Real time data that comes through the EduTrac system will guide the Ministry and stakeholders on how to prove safe and quality learning environments for students and teachers,” said Dr. Suleiman Braimoh, UNICEF Representative.
The use of EduTrac is a creative solution to help schools move away from paper-based monitoring systems, which are cumbersome and lengthy. The wide national mobile phone coverage makes EduTrac an efficient and reliable way of sharing and getting data from headmasters and teachers across Sierra Leone.
By Sallieu S. Kanu
09/07/2020. ISSUE NO.:7862