In the last two decades developments in computer technology has revolutionised the efficiency of information gathering and management, we have been witnessing a steady and impressive progress in EMIS development in education sector in almost all developing countries. Although the development has been uneven, most can claim an accomplishment of achieving the goals of improvement in collecting annual school census and producing statistical yearbooks on education.

You would have read in the article about the recent trends in the development of EMIS. What are the major shifts in the development of EMIS? Let us reiterate them here:

1. From computer-based to internet-based development

EMIS data application today is completely internet-based (sometime intranet-based), accessible through a portal website of the concerned Ministry of Education. The technology network allows data to be directly entered from schools, rather than through district or regional offices.

Although the ability of data reporting is still far behind the ability of data collection in most countries, the internet-based EMIS development has drastically shortened the collection cycle, made the collection process easier with less data errors, and enabled athe possibility of allowing data to be accessible at all levels.

2. From reporting on national statistical aggregates to reporting on sub-national or even grassroots level disaggregates

With more disaggregated data, we see many forms of school or district report cards that are produced by many EMIS centres. These are the report cards to individual schools or districts. Schools for the first time are able to see their performance (on multiple education indicators) against their district, regional and national averages.

Parents and teachers can now be empowered with the school performance information to engage in planning processes for school improvement and to inform their lesson plans. Smart reporting becomes the key to the EMIS development in the new era.

3. From school-based development to student-based development

Tracking students during the life time of schooling is now possible without excessive levels of organisational management. Two decades ago, attempts in several countries failed miserably. But today it is, for the first time, possible. Although this does not mean tracking students on a daily basis (such as daily attendance) at the national level; rather, it can help identify student academic needs and provide needed services. The real value of the student-based EMIS development is to enable the school to conduct value-added assessments.

4. From data control to data sharing

In today's era, the single most important aspect of measuring the success of EMIS development is to see how widely available the managed data is, in all forms, to all people. There should be no discount or compromise on this aspect. The best practice is to make data downloadable from a website in all forms for all users and EMIS management in fact promotes the awareness of the availability. The old mindset of data control is totally behind the times. Quality of data can be easily and quickly revealed if it is made available to all users.

You would have found that the there are differences and similarities!

Now I would like you to attempt to answer the following questions and see to what extent you have internalised the shifts in EMIS development and how that has impacted the effectiveness of your planning and management for education abilities.