Why have an Education Management Information System (EMIS)?
The national Department of Education, in common with other
government departments, has a constitutional and legislative
responsibility for reporting and accounting to the parliament and the
public on the education system.
One in five Rands of the
State budget is consumed in providing education to South Africans.
Accountability for these resources drives the development of the EMIS.
Monitoring and evaluating the education system using the EMIS provides
information, which is used to improve efficiency and optimise resource
allocation.
At local level, learner and
parent communities require information about education institutions and
outcomes in order to make decisions about education choices and
opportunities.
Our mission as the Education Management Information System directorate
The Directorate is charged with the
development and elaboration of a national Education Management
Information System (EMIS) which will cover schools, colleges,
Higher Education, Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET),
Early Childhood Development (ECD), Education for Learners with Special
Education Needs (ELSEN) centres and Further Education and Training (FET) institutions.
The Directorate is also responsible for:
Ensuring that education data and information (on learners, staff, institutions, facilities and resources) relevant to education planning is collected, analysed, and reported using the EMIS.
Providing technical assistance and advice to provincial education departments and education institutions for monitoring and evaluating education system performance.
Co-ordinating training and development activities, and research on education information systems in collaboration with other partners in the education community.
Sourcing funding support for the expansion and development of EMIS from international and local agencies.
Facilitating the development of
indicators for monitoring and evaluating the performance
of the education system.
Support for the Education Management Information System directorate
Since 1995, the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) have supported the EMIS development project in the form of substantial financial and technical assistance.
Provincial EMIS units have also received
technical development assistance from USAID. In addition, AusAid
have provided financial support for the Department of Education
in the form of technical assistance in the development of the
Higher Education MIS and the FET MIS.
The national Education Management Information System Steering Committee
In 1995, the national EMIS SC was established by the
DoE to guide and advise the DoE on the establishment of a comprehensive
national EMIS covering all sub-sectors of the education system. The SC has
representatives from the nine provinces and includes representatives of
the EMIS units in the nine provincial education departments and the
national Department of Education. In addition, the SC in its present form
includes representatives of non-governmental organisations, unions and
specialists in education information. The SC periodically submits reports
to the Heads of Education Departments committee (HEDCOM) on progress of
EMIS activities through the Directorate: Information Systems.
The EMIS SC was charged with developing a national
EMIS which would collect, analyse and report data on learners, staff,
institutions, facilities and resources in the education
system.
Education Management Information System Clients
EMIS units (Provincial and national) regularly provide services to other components in education as well as to:
Ministries, departments and government agencies at national, provincial and local level
Legislative and constituent bodies
Regulatory bodies
Civil society organisations
Local and international agencies
Learners, educators and community groups including school and college governing bodies
Business and the private sector
Unions and other partners in the education community