Use of the AUC Regional norms and standards for EMIS to improve EMIS systems in Lesotho

• In Event: Strengthening Education Sector Capacities for Resilient Education Management Information Systems in Africa: Experiences from Five KIX Africa 19 Hub Countries

Proposal

The GPE KIX Africa 19 hub has developed a Data Challenge strategy with the objective of improving countries’ EMIS systems in an endeavour to achieve SDG 4 and CESA targets on the formulation of evidence-based policy and interventions in Africa. Lesotho contacted KIX to request for assistance on the country’s data systems which experienced an array of challenges rendering data unusable. Prior to 2019, Lesotho had implemented a local-based data management system which fell short of data categories recognizable internationally and was exclusively centralized at the Ministry of Education’s head office. An improvement was made to upgrade to the OpenEmis which had an advantage of commanding both online and offline solutions making it available to the wide stakeholder population. However, the system was rife with data storage and operability challenges. Given these recurring data management challenges and an imminent need to drive the Lesotho’s EMIS into the 21st century operating systems, KIX undertook a national peer review mission in Lesotho which was benchmarked on the KIX AU EMIS Norms and Standards Framework, in June 2023. The framework consists of 15 norms against each of which Lesotho self-assessed the country’s EMIS guided by experts from KIX and other countries. This self-assessment method was triangulated by seeking views of key stakeholders and consumers of the Ministry’s data, and peers from KIX member countries shared their best practices on EMIS to the Lesotho stakeholders.

The final assessment rated Lesotho at 60% compliance to the framework, which was below the 75% average in GPE partner countries. However, the lessons learned during the mission and recommendations made by the mission, brought improvements in the Lesotho EMIS. The first recommendation adopted was on Norm 12 that is on timeliness and punctuality of data. The country reviewed its data processing cycle, especially the turnaround time, to enable for data usability. In 2024, therefore, data collection has been up-to-date with a slight slag in the actual processing. A draft EMIS policy enlisting data management structures, stakeholders, data processes and technologies required in data management awaits approval in compliance with Norm 1. Alongside the EMIS Policy, the Ministry, in collaboration with key stakeholders, has developed Education ICT Policy to respond both to Norm 2 on quality commitment, and Norm 3 which is on Statistical Confidentiality, Privacy and Cyber Security. Consistently, the Ministry collects inputs on the departments and units’ data needs in order to incorporate them into the annual data collection tool while care is taken not overload this instrument. Challenges remain with regard to the norms and standards on resources availability and utilization. In this case, the Ministry has enlisted data and information management as the priority in the 2024/25 financial year to enable the Ministry take advantage of every development assistance availed to improve the Ministry’s EMIS. Eventually, strategy management intervention, which is overridden by data management, acquired GPE funding under the System Improvement Grant in the 2024 Lesotho Compact. However, Lesotho requires more funding than what is available to satisfy the aspired data management quality.

Author

• Makhube M Ralenkoane, Ministry of Education and Training