United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

The FSDoE, like the rest of South Africa’s nine provinces used to run manual surveys on a variety of issues and educational needs. These surveys proved to be very time consuming, inaccurate, one dimensional, usually irritated school principals, and were not treated with high value and the results made available when it was already too late. Suspicion and distrust always surrounded the information during the processes of planning and during application of the information. Almost fulltime interaction with schools was necessary to validate and update the information because on provincial level the required information was used as live data for everyday planning and business implementation in the different directorates of the FSDoE. Each directorate was requesting information in different formats and for different purposes. At National Department of Education level the summarized information was needed and many a time the different tables of the surveys did not tally, resulting in more distrust and suspicion regarding the information that was given to UNESCO. This resulted in either management not getting information needed for proper planning on time or long turnaround times for users of education information.

This project was established to address a lack of proper management of information needed for planning within the Department of Education based on quality data from different types of institutions. By introducing the EMIS On-Line project, the EMIS Team (Education Management Information Systems) wished to improve bi-directional communication between education institutions and FSDoE with the aim of improving the information needs of management and other education stakeholders.

Previously the FSDoE team, was using an internal system that was created for rapid development purposes so that information was available at short notice for planning and implementation issues. Normally information was available from within the EMIS section at very short notice, but this internal system did not make provision for the availability of online information for different needs. Our internal system was then redesigned as an online system that supports different directorates, districts, other provincial and national departments and external organizations as well as the broad public with on-line information which greatly increased efficiency and eliminating excessive paper work, Electronic surveys and questionnaires could now replace manual ones. (361)

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
The aim of the project was to solve service delivery issues like requests for detailed information from the general citizens, parent community, schools, non-governmental organizations, Universities in South Africa and abroad, etc. and to address strategic planning challenges. With the establishment of EMIS On-Line high quality service delivery could be rendered to schools and the public. Upon receiving and verifying data from education institutions, the EMIS Office was able to give instant feedback to management and users of education information. This ensured that data needed for various purposes was received timeously and in the format preferred by the users at large. The heart of the EMIS On-Line system lies in the innovation of the reporting solution combined with the functionality of GIS information provided to the global users of FSDoE information. The FSDoE internal EMIS system was used as a basis for the development of EMIS On-Line. Users can enjoy both the benefits and ease of the use of a GIS system on a Business Intelligence platform. The EMIS On-Line system provides detailed information about learners, educators, curricula, GIS information, Orphans information, Physical Infrastructure at schools, and many more. It is also possible to track learner performance On-Line by accredited Officials. The EMIS team further broadened the scope of the EMIS On-Line system and included other BI features such as Dashboard Management showing a large number of key performance indicators on the system. The development is an ongoing project with the inclusion of the NEIMS (National Education Infrastructure Management System) information. By implementing the project, the EMIS Office was able to achieve its main objective of managing education information and administration at school, district and provincial levels. EMIS is now able to provide timely information to Management of the Department on a monthly basis to ensure well informed decisions that will improve service delivery to the people. EMIS information is also used as a baseline for projections of the Departmental Budget. Approximately R100 million per year was saved on Educator salaries because of the effectiveness and correct data on the system. The reports drawn from the EMIS On-Line system have shown that for the last few years, learner numbers were declining and Top Management was able to respond appropriately. These savings translated into much more than the value for money in acquiring the project. Another major achievement of the project was the reduction of turnaround time for data queries by the global users of the system. Data is integrated from different sources such as the EMIS databases, SA-SAMS data warehouse, NEIMS, etc, to create user specific reports or provide self-serve analysis. This integration of data ensures that all necessary information that may be required by the user is readily available in one place without the need to contact the EMIS officials for further data queries. Both historic and up-to-date information are immediately available with the push of a button. Users are able to change reports that are found in the below mentioned folders to meet their specific information needs. (499)

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
The system was initiated, planned and designed by Mr F Kok, CES, FSDoE EMIS. The rest of the team consist of Mr A Phosa, communications and advocacy, Mr B Deacon (analyst), responsible for development and creation of systems integrity, quality and report writing, Mr H Human, responsible for Database design, systems development and programming, Me M van Tonder, responsible for implementation of SA-SAMS in all schools having admin computers. Initially a number of meetings were conducted in the Free State at the different district offices which were followed by meetings with different levels of management and administration in the FSDoE. It should be stressed that at the time of development it was not easy for everyone to grasp the concept and some of the officials were of the opinion that it was an impossible task which was unattainable. The organisation of the EMIS On-Line system is hierarchical to easily accommodate expansion of the system. The root folder contains two main folders to store public and private information with two different access rights. Guest users can only access the public folder but cannot see the private folder. There are about ten sub-folders within the Public Folder. These sub-folders are separated according to type of institution sector namely, ABET, ECD, FET, Ordinary Schools and HBE, and core applications such as SA-SAMS, Strategic Planning and Unemployed Educators. By including all education institutions, except HDE and Private FET Colleges, the EMIS Team wished to develop a one stop data query service centre. All officials and the general public are our clients and at all levels hard work and commitments towards the system were made. Once the information was available on the system a newspaper advert was placed to advertise the availability of information which resulted in more and more people from publishers, banks, universities, other provincial departments, national departments, students, researchers, municipalities, overseas researchers, and the public became interested in the information. Continued support is also important, therefore a Help Desk was established, dedicated to supporting schools in their use of SA-SAMS and helping with any queries they might have about the system. One of the EMIS programmers was given the task of managing the Help Desk in support of schools. Getting feedback is also important, so the FSDoE can improve as it goes along. Schools are actively encouraged to forward their inputs and suggestions towards improving SA-SAMS to meet their needs. A contracted team of 6 SA-SAMS trainers was appointed and detailed training were provided to them to enable training at school level. The cooperation and hard work at school level made the project possible. Very intensive planning, development, training implementation, monitoring, retraining and a Helpline system were put in place and were all instituted by the EMIS team. (456)

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The initiative started 3 years ago when an additional budget was given to the FSDoE for the enhancement of the EMIS activities. The CES realized that a permanent, fully integrated and standardized system and structure would bring relief to the ever increasing workload of schools. Schools were tired of completing the same survey forms year after year. Different directorates were asking the same information on different dates and times, which increased the workload of school staff members. This resulted in duplicating work and added admin responsibilities to principals and educators that took them out of the classroom for admin purposes. It was decided that by running a fully integrated administration system at school level, structured information would be available by the click of a button and that should eliminate unnecessary wasting of time and effort in the schools. This very same information will then be provided to the Provincial office for use by the FSDoE for management, planning and reporting purposes. The first objective was to help all schools with the data capturing of learners and staff members that would form the bases of the system. This was done by contracting service providers in two consecutive years because of limitations in the budget. Once the initial data was captured training started for those schools who could work on their own data. It soon proved that training on simulated data was not as effective as working with your schools’ own data. Different methodologies were used for the capturing of data namely conversions of other systems to SA- SAMS where schools requested it, manual capturing for individual schools and mass capturing in a data centre. After the basic data was captured, schools were informed on what and how the system could be used to comply to their own information needs at school level. Concurrently with this process the development of the On-Line system was starting to move from the infancy phase to the toddler and later the teenager stage of development. The first few reports were copied from the EMIS internal system by a service provider (SITA) as a quick win strategy. During the second phase of development on the system, provision was made for the reporting of key performance areas in education by using graphical illustrations of the data received from schools. These graphical illustrations of the system proved to attract more attention and information related to the annual performance plan and 5 year strategic plan was harvested from this information. It was at this point in time that senior management of the FSDoE decided that the information was of such a high quality and reliability level that an instruction went out to all senior managers in the FSDoE that only special requests would be handled manually in the EMIS section. The information should be retrieved from the EMIS On-Line system in all other instances. This resulted in a great reduction of the amount of paperwork and provided high quality service delivery. (491)

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
The internal system development was done over a period of 2- 3 years. A BI system was acquired from a service provider and set up on a server with sufficient capacity to handle the large volumes of information that was expected over the next few years. Running concomitantly to this process the development of SA-SAMS was drawn to a closure and rollout to all schools started in full swing. Data was captured and imported to the system and corrections were made. District school management was trained on the use of SA-SAMS for the purpose of using it at district- and at circuit level. Posters of the SA-SAMS were printed and sent to all schools. An On-Line manual for the use of EMIS On-Line was developed and sent to all schools. SA-SAMS patches were coded at the National education office and provided to the EMIS team for distribution to schools. At this point in time management was very satisfied with the progress of the system and allowed the contracting of six SA-SAMS trainers with a manager to fast track the implementation phase at school level and to attend to problem areas namely the setup and commissioning of an administrative network at school level. A switch and 100m of network cables were provided to schools without an admin network. Ten empty CDs were sent to all schools that participated in the rollout process to enable schools to submit data to head office on a monthly basis. Included with the CDs were labels with the basic information of every school including an EMIS number and dates with a bar-coding system to seamlessly checklist the returned CDs. Schools also received circulars with visual step by step instructions on how to use the system for every purpose as needed by the provincial office. Data CDs started to be submitted by schools. Once the data CD’s reached head office it was check listed on an internal computerized system to track what was submitted and what was still outstanding. At provincial level the development of SAMS warehouse started to enable EMIS officials to upload every schools’ monthly database into a large warehouse where data could be retrieved for analytical and planning purposes. The system started to produce results. The contestation of learner numbers from previous years was no longer valid, because it was now possible to count learners according to every individual record as submitted by schools. Calculation errors and falsified numbers were no longer an issue. Reporting on the EMIS-On line system also started to produce results that brought about major changes in education. The learner misconduct incidents, attendance of learners and educators, learner curriculum performance per quarter and many, many more reports became available through the system. For the first time it was now possible to track the learner movement from school to school. By providing the SA-SAMS system to all schools free of charge and with the accompanying support, previously disadvantaged schools were now able to run their school administration fluently and effectively. (498)

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
The problem of reaching deep rural schools also presented major challenges to the FSDoE. The fact that the majority of schools in rural areas are not computer literate nor have access to the Internet posed major challenges to the FSDoE. These schools cannot benefit from the EMIS On-Line system nor can they use SA-SAMS. The collection of information at most under-developed schools within the Free State is sometimes problematic where schools cannot use modern technology due to lack of access, lack of resources, computer illiterate staff, etc. A lesson learnt from this experience is that where there are resources such as admin computers in schools, Education should ensure full utilisation of such scarce resources so that both the school and the FSDoE can mutually enjoy the benefits associated with such resources. Schools with administrative computers are now updating the school system on a daily basis and then submit the school data to FSDoE on a monthly basis via CD. This information is then populated into a provincial warehouse from where reporting and planning is done on an ongoing basis. Not all schools, especially farm schools, are electronically connected to the EMIS which led to slow capturing of data provided by the said schools. Budget constraints also hamper the upgrading of the System for example R7 million was requested, only R3 million was allocated to the EMIS during 2008/2009 financial year. Only R 2 million is available per year to run the system until 2012. This money will also be used for the training of school Principals, admin staff as well as educators using the system. A further challenging factor is the vacant posts within the Directorate that totals more than 60%. In spite of these challenges, EMIS has managed to achieve tremendous progress in helping schools to computerize their admin and curricular activities. The key lessons that other Provincial Education Departments can learn from us is that the role of school principals must be stressed in terms of a standardized schools’ administration system. The principal must be held responsible for submitting information electronically and communication with schools should provide clear instructions as to what data is needed and how to submit the data. In the case where staff members, educators and principals transfer between schools, the same basic system is used and in place in all schools in the Free State. This leads to continuity in school administration which greatly streamlined all the administrative processes in schools. It is envisaged that all schools in the Republic of South Africa should be using the system in the near future and this will enhance school management because all principals in South Africa would be trained and skilled in the use of the system. (451)

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
The EMIS On-Line system was developed by a team of four members over a period of two and a half years. The team leader did the initial proposal, planning and vision. The SA-SAMS software was developed and coded by the NDoE by Pat Bulling from the EMS Directorate. After the initial development the FSDoE EMIS team made hundreds of inputs to the system that made the system more user friendly and relevant for school use in the Republic of South Africa. The system was continuously tested, updated and more modules added to be a fully functional and integrated system complying to NDoE policies. It is very difficult to determine the cost of the system because it was developed “in-house”. The EMIS On-Line was initially developed at a cost of R400,000.00 and an annual licensing fee of R100 000 has to be paid annually for the software. An additional license fee is paid for every user that is given secure access to the system to allow for detailed staff and learner information. The contract workers who are implementing SA-SAMS at school level are employed at an annual cost of R1,800,000.00. A number of up to 14,000 CDs are used annually at an estimated cost of R23,000. A server, to run the system, was purchased and installed with software at a total cost of R500,000.00. Printing costs to an amount of R200,000.00 are annually paid for two photo copiers/printers to do hard copy publications and printing of circulars to schools. (249)

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
The EMIS On-Line system has been in operation for two years now and has proved its ability to be implemented by making available information and statistical reports to institutions, organizations and especially the FSDoE for planning and budgeting purposes. All data sets are incorporated in the EMIS On-Line system that hosts different databases for a variety of purposes for proper reporting and planning of which the SA-SAMS warehouse forms the core of the information for the Free State Department of Education. The FSDoE EMIS team was instrumental in the development of SA-SAMS as can be seen from the accolades received from the National Department of Education. The SA-SAMS system is provided by NDoE free of charge to all schools in the Republic of South Africa and FSDoE has chosen to implement the SA-SAMS system in all schools. This has had a tremendous impact on the efficiency of school administration especially to previous disadvantaged schools who could not afford to buy expensive administrative systems. The physical infrastructure information is drawn from the NEIMS (National Education Infrastructure Management System) system. The NEIMS information plays a major role in determining the actual education needs of our communities with regard to basic facilities such as water, electricity, sanitation, class sizes, learner space, etc. Management relies on this information for proper provisioning to schools. The system is very transferable to other Provincial Education Departments. This system does have the ability to be used in the rest of South Africa, SADEC and the rest of Africa. Minor changes will have to be effected to accommodate the specific curriculum needs of every country where it is implemented. The EMIS On-Line System is built on Business Objects BI Platform. Because Business Objects solutions have a proven track record to provide dynamic security, it is relatively easy to provide authentication and access control to different types of users of the project. The Departments of Education from Mphumalanga, Northern Cape and Limpopo were given copies of this system. Software code was also provided to the respective NDoE to share with needy provinces. Most of the other provinces are now following the strategy of the FSDoE by implementing SA-SAMS at school level to ensure proper administration and then placing these information sets in one big warehouse where analyses, planning and reporting will be done on provincial level and data submitted to NDoE. Presentations were made to individual managers who might benefit from SA-SAMS - such as curriculum, finance, human resources etc. District officials were trained in the use of SA-SAMS; flyers were sent out and the Help Desk contact numbers were distributed to all schools in the province. The department also helped each school to get their project kick-started - and made training easier by appointing service providers to capture school’s data, so that they could use the school's actual data in training. It was realised early on that you cannot train schools on someone else's information - it had to be their own information, which they can relate to. (499)

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
The main reason the implementation has been successful, is that it genuinely does offer numerous benefits to the schools - even to the extent of automating timetable creation, so a job that used to take weeks now takes only a few minutes. Schools used to run different administration systems in the past that differed from learner report systems to different computerized systems but these systems had different goals and did not “talk to one another” and therefore could not be used as integrated systems that ultimately reported to the NDoE systems. A win-win situation was established when the FSDoE EMIS team started to pilot the SA-SAMS software and gave feedback and proposed changes to the NDoE regarding the usage of SA- SAMS in schools in the Free State province. While the final development process was under way the CES of EMIS decided that the initial pilot was well worth the effort and the win – win situation should involve all schools in the Free Sate. At this point in time he requested proven commitment from the NDoE in term of the ownership of SA-SAMS and the support on the system for future commitment. After the commitment was given by NDoE the FSDoE sought legal advice and decided on the grounds of section 195 of the constitution that proper administration would be contributing to the development of schools in the Free State and made the system mandatory for all schools. From the department's point of view, curriculum can now watch the learner's performance and the school's performance. We can look at trends and start identifying problems early on. And we can let a school have feedback almost immediately if there are any problems. By implementing the project, the EMIS Office was able to achieve its main objective of managing education information and administration at school, district and provincial levels. EMIS is now able to provide timely information to Management of the Department on a monthly basis to ensure well informed decisions that will improve service delivery to the people. EMIS information is also used as a baseline for projections of the Departmental Budget. Approximately R100 million per year was saved on Educator salaries because of the effectiveness and correct data on the system. The reports drawn from the EMIS On-Line system have shown that for the last few years, learner numbers were declining and Top Management was able to respond appropriately. These savings translated into much more than the value for money in acquiring the project. Another major achievement of the project was the reduction of turnaround time for data queries by the global users of the system. Data is integrated from different sources such as the EMIS databases, SA-SAMS data warehouse, NEIMS, etc, to create user specific reports or provide self-serve analysis. This integration of data ensures that all necessary information that may be required by the user is readily available in one place without the need to contact the EMIS officials for further data queries. Both historic and up-to-date information are immediately available with the push of a button. Users are able to change reports that are found in the below mentioned folders to meet their specific information needs.


Institution Name:		Free State Department of Education:Education Management Information Systems
Institution Type:		Government Department
Contact Person:		Frans Kok
Title:		Chief Education Specialist
Telephone/ Fax:		027514048089
Institution's / Project's Website:		027514048094
E-mail:		fkok@edu.fs.gov.za
Address:		Free State Provincial Government Building: Elizabeth Street
Postal Code:		9301
City:		Bloemfontein
State/Province:		Free State
Country:		South Africa

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information