UNESCO has started the training of Master Trainers for EMIS
UNESCO has completed the training of Master Trainers from the Ministry of Education and the General Directorate of Education at Rasafa 3 on the Education Management Information System (EMIS).
As part of the EU-funded “Education Management Information System for Quality Education in Iraq”, UNESCO has developed a purpose-built EMIS for Iraq. In partnership with UNICEF, the EMIS will be rolled out across 9 General Directorates of Education (GDoE) during 2021 – 2023.
The EMIS collects, organizes and stores education data, processes, analyses, and generates reports and educational indicators and makes it easily accessible to stakeholders at all levels of the sector, from Ministry-level planning experts, to directorates, to teachers and school administrators. The EMIS also serves as a daily operations tool for schools to manage data related to students, teachers, employees, facilities, and assets in real time. Such valuable information will facilitate strategic decision-making, policy formulation and budgeting, and routine management at the district and school levels, helping educational planners at the ministry, directorates, and schools to better manage education service delivery and improve the quality of learning in Iraq.
A functional EMIS system requires the capacity to manage and use its capabilities and robust mechanisms to support the end-users. As part of the EMIS development process, a core Team of Master Trainers from the MoE and Rasaf 3 have received a 3 week training on the maintenance and day-to-day use of the system, to respond to different needs and best practices. These Master Trainers will lead the EMIS trainings at the level of schools that will start on 20 June 2021. In addition, to provide support to the end-users (schools) an EMIS Call Center has been established at the MoE and 3 support analysts from the call center are trained to provide remote support to school-level users.
Following this training, the Master Trainers with UNESCO and UNICEF support will conduct school level trainings in the schools across GDoE at Rasafa 3. The GDoE at Rasafa 3 and all schools have been equipped with laptops provided through the project.
The commencement of this training marks a critical milestone as it is a key step to ensuring Iraqi ownership and sustainability of the EMIS, empowering stakeholders to use and maintain the system according to their needs and preparing Ministry users for the eventual technology transfer.
Speaking at the opening of the training workshop, the Chief of Education for UNESCO, Mr. Santosh Khatri said “The availability of quality, relevant education data is pre-requisite for government’s ability to improve education through evidence-based policy making at the central and governorate administration level, and to empower the teachers and administrators at school level to make informed decisions quickly and effectively.”
Attending the training, the Director General for Educational Planning (Ministry of Education), Mr. Safaa Younis, said “The Education management information system will provide data and information to decision makers and enable them to analyze, draw conclusions and identify strengths and weaknesses in the educational system, in order to correct the path and control remotely”.
Appreciating the ongoing efforts in strengthening of Iraq’s education systems, Head of Cooperation of European Union Delegation to Iraq, Ms.Barbara Egger said “The new Education Management Information System will set the foundation for an improved quality of education. The availability of up to date and accurate data for decision makers and school administrators will improve the planning, monitoring and quality delivery of the learning process. We appreciate the commitment from Ministry of Education in adopting the system and equally the dedication from the trainees during the last couple of weeks. We will continue to work together with Ministry of Education and our partners at UNESCO and UNICEF to support the implementation and the roll-out of the system across the country”.