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Zimbabwe: Country-led Information Systems Development
Zimbabwe has scored a series of successes in developing a policy-responsive information system in the Ministry of Education. It began by building capacity at the central and provincial levels and is now working at the district level. In the process, it has improved data collection and processing capacity, enhanced staffs' skills and knowledge base, institutionalized the Education Management Information System (EMIS), and improved communication in a decentralized environment. The beneficiaries of these efforts are the planning, monitoring, and management functions at the various levels of the education system. Key members of the team involved in developing the EMIS were asked to tell us about their system, its starting point, its current status and the critical factors of success in building and sustaining the system.
The starting point
The massive expansion of the education system in the post-Independence era was accompanied by an increased demand for teachers, instructional materials, infrastructure, financial support, and other resources. It also created a pressing need for a system capable of producing accurate and timely information for decisionmaking. In 1985, with the support of USAID, the Ministry developed and implemented a mini computer-based Education Management Information System (EMIS).
Typical of externally driven projects, however, the system was fraught with operational and management problems. The Ministry did not have the capacity to support and maintain the system, so was dependent on the vendor. Hardware and software lacked the flexibility and compatibility needed to share data across heterogeneous platforms and systems. Yet because the software was proprietary, Ministry staff could not modify it in response to organizational changes. Moreover, the system relied on an outdated schools database that could only generate fixed aggregate summary reports and tables. The annual schools survey, used to generate data, fell short of providing information that users needed. Data were not policy-anchored or relevant so were of little use to decision-makers. They were not disaggregated by gender, urban/rural dichotomy, or other such analytic variables.
Enlisting the participation of key actors
Following NESIS's Diagnostic Survey in 1993, Zimbabwe agreed to participate in a pilot project on Education Development Indicators (EDI). Funded by UNICEF within the framework of the NESIS program of the ADEA Working Group on Education Statistics, the EDI generic module was a tool designed to produce education statistics on a set of core development indicators.
To operationalize the module in Zimbabwe, the Ministry formed various committees. At the policy and decision-making level, the National Steering Committee comprised members from the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture (MOESC), the Ministry of Higher Education and Technology, the University of Zimbabwe, and the Central Statistical Office. The NESIS Team was made up of members from MOESC's operational divisions. A technical committee was derived from the latter, serving the NESIS module phases: schools records management, the Annual Schools Survey, database development for education indicators (EDI). Two officers in the ministry's information department were trained in the use of the application development program. They helped develop each of the module phases.
The EDI pilot project
Following the development of the EDI module in 1994, the NESIS team tested the prototype in the Midlands region, chosen because it represents the country's entire education system. The region has eight districts, with both urban and rural settings; the latter are further subdivided into communal, resettlement, commercial farming and mining settlements.
The initial data set of the module focused on five aspects of the education system:
- Access (gross and net intake ratios for first graders);
- Participation (gross, net, and age-specific enrolment ratios for primary education);
- Internal efficiency (dropout, promotion, and repetition rates);
- Human resources (trained and untrained teachers and teacher qualification levels);
- Quality (pupil-classroom, pupil-teacher, and pupil-trained teacher ratios).
Later the module was expanded, and the data sets were disaggregated by location, gender, districts, and other variables pertinent to the needs of users. The pilot run proved successful in terms of coverage, quality, and relevance of the data, and the results, published in the Midlands Report, highlighted the shortcomings of the former information system.
The benefits of Zimbabwe's new information system
The NESIS program has benefited Zimbabwe in many ways:
- Improved data collection: The Annual Schools Survey questionnaire now covers the broad spectrum of the education system and incorporates Education for All (EFA) core performance indicators. The data and information gleaned from the survey is reliable, complete, user-related and policy-anchored. School heads know how to fill in the questionnaire, so the quality of data has improved.
- Improved processing capacity: The new Wide Area Network-based EMIS is composed of Local Area Networks at headquarters and the regional offices. The system cascades down to the Ministry's fifty-nine districts. Data sharing and network connectivity between district offices, regional offices, and headquarters is facilitated through dial-up network services and remote access services. The Ministry is now setting up the district offices' systems so that data can be captured and analyzed at that level. This network enhances the accessibility of education data.
- Enhanced skills and knowledge base: The nationwide training of EMIS staff imparted skills and knowledge in systems support and administration, database administration, data processing, interpretation, and analysis. Users at the lowest administrative levels have direct access to information that helps them allocate resources, plan, monitor, evaluate—in other words, manage—the education system.
- Institutionalized EMIS: The EMIS unit that was previously under the Policy Planning section has graduated into a full-fledged section. Though the regional and district levels are still operating from within the inherited structure, thereby stifling professional and innovative growth of personnel at these centres, the Ministry is making an effort to create EMIS units at each administrative level.
- Generic EDI application module: The Zimbabwe experience served as a basis for developing a NESIS module containing good-practices guidelines, a training handbook in designing and programming the EDI database, and a case study of the Midlands. This module has been used throughout Africa in training and preparation for both the EFA mid-decade and end-of-decade assessment. It has been the model for the development of the indicators template for the global EFA2000 Assessment. It is available on the NESIS website at http://www.unesco.org/nesis/.
Why the program has been successful
There are several reasons underlying Zimbabwe's success in building a useful and responsive EMIS. First, the system was developed using a participatory and user-driven approach. This guaranteed acceptance and ownership by the user communities within the Ministry. Through various committees and forums, participants developed a shared commitment and common way of planning future events. The participatory approach aided in fostering cultural changes in the Ministry and shifts in attitudes toward the new technology. It tapped the creativity of senior management, gaining their enthusiasm, ownership and commitment. The involvement of senior management also served to guarantee the provision of the requisite resources and infrastructure.
Second, the formal and informal training was pivotal to the success of the program. The knowledge and skills imparted to the technical team served as a driving force behind the Ministry's endeavours for self-sustainability. The statistics unit was transformed into a policy-supporting EMIS section and its staff into multidisciplinary systems development professionals.
What remains to be done
There is an urgent need to incorporate education statistics in the mainstream curriculum and operations of the Ministry. This could be achieved by producing the requisite instructional materials and training programs. Also, because human, financial, and other resources are scarce in sub-Saharan Africa, there is a need to create centers of excellence on the various aspects of education statistics. These centres would impart knowledge and skills to Ministry staff throughout the sub-region. Finally, better coordination between the sub-region and the donor community is vital for the continued success and implementation of programs of this nature.
EVANS CHITANDO
HEAD OF STATISTICS
SIMPLISIO RWEZUVA
SYSTEMS DEVELOPER
HONEST MUZUNGU
SYSTEMS ANALYSIS
DIVISION OF INFORMATION AND STATISTICS, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, SPORT AND CULTURE, ZIMBABWE
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