Within the framework of the KIX LAC program, a technical learning visit took place, where technical teams and managers from the Ministry of Education of Guyana received a delegation of representatives from the Eastern Caribbean countries and members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda. It was held on December 12, 13 and 14, 2023.
The objective of this cross-country collaboration was to gain knowledge of the Educational Management Information System (EMIS), launched in Guyana on October 30, 2023. EMIS is an information system designed to collect, integrate, process, maintain and disseminate data and information. It facilitates decision making, policy analysis, formulation, planning, monitoring and management at all levels of an education system. This system integrates people, technology, models, methods, processes, procedures, rules and regulations to help decision-makers, managers and users in general have access to relevant data and information to make informed decisions.
Day 1 – Discovering Guyana’s Educational Vision for its EMIS
The first day of the visit focused on Guyana’s educational vision, highlighting the importance of strategic planning and political support. New responsibilities for schools and teachers were explored, laying the groundwork for effective EMIS implementation. Raul Chacon, Director of KIX LAC saidthat “we are convinced of the importance of this space for face-to-face exchange and learning facilitated by SUMMA and OECS through its KIX LAC Center, with the support of IDRC and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), for the countries of the Caribbean region. Bringing together education teams from Dominica, St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Guyana, gives them the opportunity to learn about the experiences of their neighboring countries and the importance of developing a Education Management Information System(EMIS), to seek to achieve educational justice and support every student. We especially highlight the generosity and hard work of the Guyanese Ministry of Education team for hosting us and teaching us about their experience”.
Activities performed:
- Exploring the educational vision: diving into Guyana’s ambitious vision for transforming education through EMIS.
- Comprehensive planning: highlighting the critical importance of strategic planning and strong political backing to ensure the continued success of the EMIS project.
- Initial challenges: identifying early challenges, including the new responsibilities of schools and teachers in implementing the EMIS strategy.
Day 2 | Diving into technical-experience-practical implementation in schools.
The second day delved into crucial technical aspects, from ethics and the steering committee to the technical presentation of Fundación de Sistemas Comunitarios (CSF). In addition, monitoring modules, cost considerations and the long-term vision for transforming education were explored. In this regard, Nicola Johnson, Head of Planning at Guyana’s Ministry of Education, noted thatparticipating in a knowledge exchange from one country to another makes people reflect on the process. We don’t always reflect on what we are doing or how we are doing it, so this meeting gives us an opportunity to pause and reflect on the process. And in that sense, you can move forward with a better, new perspective on what you are doing and, in a sense, do it better. I think that’s one of the advantages of the exchange.”
In addition, educational institutions in Georgetown were visited, which provided a hands-on experience of EMIS implementation. The staff of the school St. Paul’s Primary School shared their experiences, highlighting both the positive impacts and challenges encountered in its implementation. Connectivity and device availability were identified as key areas for improvement, especially in remote regions. In addition, the need for continuous training for staff was emphasized and ways to improve the efficiency of the system, considering training and resource allocation, were explored. Wyketta Stoute, one of the first elementary school teachers shared her experience with EMIS, “When we talk about an EMIS system, we talk about a tool for social justice. Because of the amount of data it collects, it shows us the reality of what is going on with our students and gives us information about how to address these challenges. It also allows us to monitor and identify students who need more attention or intervention. EMIS brings us into the 21st century and allows us to be accountable for what happens to our data and provides transparency. Once you understand EMIS you will love it, so I encourage teachers to embrace the change and embrace the benefits of EMIS. Open your minds to the advantages of working with EMIS”.
Activities performed:
- Field Immersion: visits to educational institutions to gain a practical understanding of EMIS implementation, highlighting specific challenges and notable successes.
- School staff perspectives: sharing testimonials from education staff on the usefulness of EMIS in day-to-day management, highlighting positive impacts and areas for improvement.
- Reflections on challenges: identifying specific challenges in data entry and connectivity, especially in remote areas.
Day 3 | Implementing regional EMIS. Conclusions and next steps
During the third and last day, significant progress was made in working on agreements for the construction of a regional agenda. The close collaboration between the participating countries was highlighted, underlining the importance of sharing experiences and knowledge to strengthen the implementation of EMIS strategies.
KIX LAC played an important role in facilitating conversations around evidence-based recommendations. This evidence-based approach is considered vital to address implementation challenges, offering solutions backed by concrete data and experience.
The conclusion of the visit highlighted shared challenges, such as the need for improved connectivity and staff training. Guyana offered key recommendations, urging regional collaboration and mutual support to overcome obstacles. The experience made it clear that EMIS is an integral part of educational transformation in the region. Continued collaboration among Caribbean countries is essential to the future success of EMIS and to achieving more effective, equitable and innovative education in the Caribbean region.
Activities performed:
- Recapitulation of challenges: synthesizing the identified challenges such as connectivity and continuous training of educational personnel.
- Key recommendations: summarizing Guyana’s key recommendations to address challenges and strengthen EMIS implementation.
- Request for regional support: calling for regional collaboration and mutual support to overcome common challenges and move towards successful EMIS implementation.
Guyana’s Ministry of Education committed to fostering regional collaboration and knowledge sharing, supporting the advancement of education management systems across the Caribbean.
EMIS in Guyana:
- Guyana has an approved EMIS policy.
- The Education Law is currently being updated to support EMIS and improve the governance framework and a draft change management strategy for development has been developed.
- Development of a new EMIS is underway, with a focus on deploying the core OpenEMIS module from 2019.
- The system survey has been used to collect data from all schools electronically for the first time in 2023.
- Other steps planned are the adoption of the special educational needs element and the human resources element of the system.
- The Ministry of Education’s Planning Unit is legally mandated to produce statistical reports on educational data. Data are collected at central and regional levels, but integration between levels is lacking. Once school data is collated at the national level, it is still not accessible to schools for decision making. Several IT solutions are used for processes such as human resource management and educational resource management, but they are not interoperable.
- There is limited capacity to train users in the use of digital solutions for educational management. Data disparity is currently being addressed to improve the EMIS ecosystem so that specific data is stored in dedicated spaces.
The delegation consisted of:
- Raúl Chacón, KIX LAC program director.
- Mar Botero – Program officer KIX LAC
- Nailah James – Education Planner – Grenada
- Schnelle Leonce – Education Planner – St. Lucia
- Nadette Langford – Senior Technical Specialist – Data – OECS (Dominica)
- Germain Anthony – Senior Technical Specialist – Education – OECS (St. Lucia)
- Bekissa Robinson – Statistician – Statistics – Dominica
- Keith Thomas – Education Planner – St. Vincent and the Grenadines
- Jem Lafraichere – IT Coordinator (Board of Education) – Antigua and Barbuda
- Shelly Galloway – Education Officer, Knowledge Management (Ministry of Education) – Antigua and Barbuda
Officials of the Ministry of Education of Guyana:
- Saddam Hussain – Chief Education Officer
- Nicola Warrica-Johnson – Chief of Planning
- Yoganand Indarsingh – Chief of Management Information Systems Unit
- Phil Mingo – Head of Information Systems
- Dahvis Caldeira – Senior Statistician, and other officials of the Ministry.
Phil Mingo | Head of Information Systems, Ministry of Education, Guyana
In our particular case (in Guyana), every year teachers have to do a number of data related tasks related to reporting, to the point that sometimes a department of the Ministry of Education will contact a school, ask them for a report, only to have another month later another department ask them for almost the same thing, this of course, is going to frustrate teachers. And so the burden of expectation now is that if you have a statistics department, a planning department, why is the planning department not able to give you that information? So obviously the planning department has realized that we have to be the gatekeepers on this issue. Because we are expected to have that information. First of all, they are not necessarily going to go to ministries and departments, in fact, they usually don’t even know which department to go to for action on certain reports, they go to planning. So Planning had to take the bull by the horns, as we would say, had to take the initiative. And, of course, the head of planning had to be the one to do it. And then, of course, once the chief planner makes that decision, he or she has to be empowered, to make certain decisions, to set up a team to approach the Minister, to approach the CEO for funding support and so on. Because, in reality, the planning department could not have done it on its own, even with the support of the European Commission.
