| 4. In which ways is the initiative creative and innovative?
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First there was a stocktaking of the present situation and the different possible solutions. With the help of our partners expert advice we were able to adopt the most viable solution. There were no tailor made solutions, thus platform for collaboration were developed and plan of action put in place. The plan was developed by one of the partners in consultation with the school and specifics were discussed. Training of administrators of the system, who are the educators at school, was the first step in the implementation of the strategy. Furthermore the second step was the training of the rest of staff which was done phase wise. First introduction to the new system, then educator in-house training and finally non teaching staff in-house training. After the training period the existing system was transferred on the new system and further in house training were made to develop the ability in making use of the new system and the concept of work anytime anywhere. Lastly students were exposed to the new system of collaboration and being from the technological age, they adapted quite fast cursing in their own way.
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| 5. Who implemented the initiative and what is the size of the population affected by this initiative?
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All the stakeholders that a school may have were involved either directly or indirectly with the project.
1. Ministry of Education - they are the parent ministry from which all approvals and support are needed.
2. School leader administration staff - they are the one to coordinate all preliminary meetings, get the necessary approvals and clearances
3. Microsoft Indian Ocean - they are our partner. All Microsoft licenses and certification are to be obtained from them
4. Bhumishq (Mauritius) Ltd- It is the firm hired by Microsoft to carry out initial implementation and training of staff.
5. Core Team - this consist of 5 educators responsible for the daily monitoring, troubleshooting and maintenance of the system.
6. Educators - they are the primary users of the system. their adoption of the new initiative was very crucial to the success of the project
7. Parents - Students will work more from home. Thus, parents consent and approval is necessary.
8. Students - they are the end users of the system.
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| 6. How was the strategy implemented and what resources were mobilized?
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Our policy is to "Do more with less" - the characteristic required to become a 21st Century school. All the above do not form part of the scheme of work of staff but all engaged themselves wholeheartedly for its success.The Office365 cloud software is normally a paid one. However, for schools the A2 plan has been given free of charge by Microsoft. Even our domain name "sarmsss.mu" was purchased for the first year by Bhumishq and financed by Microsoft. For consecutive years, Rs 2000 will have to be paid by the school to renew the domain name.
The school's financial contribution was to set up a Wifi-Lan system with internet which costs around Rs 100,000. The purchase of 20 mini laptops at cost of Rs 200,000. The public address system was at a cost of Rs125,000. The fund to finance the initiative came from an Ad-Hoc grant of Rs 500, 000 given by Ministry of Education. Internet connection is available from 2 sources: One from Government Online Centre which is paid by Ministry. We have a parallel broadband internet connection which is paid by Parent Teachers Association at a cost of Rs 800 per month. The tablets given freely by Ministry is perfectly adaptable to office365. This tool will be used to make teaching and learning more dynamic.
Human resource requirement was the training of the core team as admin to maintain the system. training was given by Bhumishq financed by Microsoft Indian Ocean. The core team then trained all staff for the efficient use of the system.
Bhumishq will further assist the school for a period of one year concerning any technical support we may require.
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| 7. Who were the stakeholders involved in the design of the initiative and in its implementation?
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1. The support and commitment of all SARM State Secondary School staff has led to the unanimous adoption of the system giving a general "Feel Good" factor to work at SARM SSS.
2. Timely and accurate generation of reporting system for students is available online. Teachers have access to all performance auditing required by Ministry and Quality Assurance Department. This is generated automatically by the system. Paper usage has fallen down by almost half. We further re-use and recycle paper.
3. Effective and on the spot communication among staff is possible. This reduces decision making time and improves the flow of information. Communication with students and Parents has also improved.
4. There has been a constant improvement in results at School Certificate and Higher School Certificate. There has been a reduction in number of failures at all levels at school.
5. With this program we have been able to develop new competencies/learning areas in staff & students such as:
a. Life skills(learning to know, to be, to do and to live together)
b. Civic Education(On becoming a true patriot towards Nation Building)
c. Career skills(Become self reliant,enterprising,disciplined,efficient time management)
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| 8. What were the most successful outputs and why was the initiative effective?
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Monitoring was carried out at various levels during the training phase and deployment phase. Furthermore dashboards were prepared with specific duties assigned to administrators who were to report to the head. Simultaneously our partners were having online checks about the progress of the project. Staff having problem of adaptation to the new system were given one to one training and one to one online collaboration to get acquainted with the facilities of the new system following the concept “teach a man how to fish instead to give him fish”.
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| 9. What were the main obstacles encountered and how were they overcome?
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Internet connectivity was a major hassle for onsite training. Thus for the few first training of administrators, the activity was carried out in the office of one of the partners. Then the subsequent trainings were carried out at school using a private connection to the internet funded by the PTA. Another problem identified was the level of ICT skills among staff and this was dealt in trainings and also in one to one training session. Furthermore with online collaboration, meeting were held online to tackle issues.
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