Uganda – Nationwide dissemination of the Teacher Management Information System
With support from UNESCO, the Ministry of Education (MoE) commissioned the development of TMIS in 2014 and rolled out its use in early 2019 as part of the larger efforts to strengthen the Education Management Information system (EMIS) and the teacher data needs across several sections of the ministry. The TMIS is a web based platform the Ministry of Education in Uganda is using to collate teacher data for better management of teachers and the teaching profession. The TMIS is a platform to support harmonization and timely access to teacher information at all administrative levels of the ministry and its associated agencies at national, district and institutional levels. Its main objective is to solve the problem of disjointed teacher records across the various sections of government and the ministries managing teachers. It is envisaged that the teacher data collected through TMIS will facilitate relevant policy formulation and implementation.
From since its roll out in 2019, the number of teachers who have registered on it by end of 2020 was about 30% of the teachers in Uganda. As a web based platform, it requires every teacher to have access to internet and an internet enabled computer or smartphone. One of the factors commonly cited contributing to the low rate of registration by the teachers was lack of awareness on the merits of the system and how it functions. To increase the number of teachers registering on TMIS, the UNESCO Norwegian Teacher Initiative (NTI) project in Uganda, in collaboration with the MoE launched a nationwide dissemination of the platform (from 26 May to 12 June 2021) through television broadcasts and regional information sessions. 20 television broadcasts (one hour long) were conducted in a span of two months on two television stations where the ministry technocrats provided information to the teachers in particular and the public at large on TMIS and how a teacher would successfully register on it.
While launching the dissemination, Mr. Moses Bateganya, the Country Focal Point Officer, assigned by the government called upon all the teachers in the country who have not yet registered to tune in and follow the discussions on TV or go to the nearest teacher training college for face to face information session.