Primary Education Survey Evaluation Report Somalia - Somali - JNA

PES Evaluation Report, 2008
• To assess the degree to which training of MoE officials in data collection and management
have been successfully and appropriately implemented
• To assess the utility level of the PES in Somalia, in particular the benefits of its results and
outputs to the intended users
• To identify best practice, innovative interventions and shortcomings in the current process of
planning and implementing the annual survey
• To make recommendations and suggestions on possible improvements related to all aspects
of the routine survey, including, if necessary, ways of increasing levels of participation and
ownership and utility of the survey/data by the MoE authorities and other stakeholders
• To make recommendations with respect to the evolving relationship between the
current/future PES and the nascent EMIS system
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The PES as currently conceived has many of the classic attributes of a survey in that it is a set of data
collected by independent enumerators at a single point in time. The data is aggregated centrally, subjected
to some analysis and placed in a single report for distribution. The implementation of the survey on an
annual basis has facilitated trend analysis to be undertaken. However, these annual implementations are a
set of independent events, and not an annual upgrading of a central data base. Importantly, the PES has
not used the common strategy of sampling from the population; rather it is a census that collects data
from all schools in the targeted population. This element, along with the centralised aggregation of data,
is a feature that the PES has in common with an EMIS. However, an EMIS has some important features
that distinguish it from a survey. A full description of an EMIS is set out in Appendix 3. Here, a brief
extract from that appendix is presented to define what is understood to be an EMIS in this report.
To clarify understanding about what an EMIS is, and how it can be of assistance in developing an
education infrastructure, the definition and conceptual framework of an EMIS has been adapted from the
work undertaken by UNESCO (1998 Bangkok). This conceptualization defines an EMIS to be ‘an
organized group of information and documentation services that collects, stores, processes, analyses and
disseminates information for educational planning and management” (p.2). As such it is more than a data
storage system. Rather it integrates system components of inputs, processes, outputs and reporting in such
a way that accuracy, flexibility and adaptability, and efficiency are maximized. The elements that need to
be integrated are the:
• Needs of data producers and users
• Data
• Information handling
• Storage of data
• Retrieval of data
• Data analysis
• Computer and manual procedures
• Networking among EMIS centers (UNESCO 1998, p. 4)
It also has a dynamic process orientation that focuses on the two-way flow of information so that all
levels of the organization can make effective use of the data and reports generated from the data. This
flow of information needs to be efficient by avoiding duplication of effort, made accurate by
incorporating validation procedures and adequate training of personnel at all levels, and meeting the
needs of all stakeholders in the system. This complex interaction of components is represented in Figure 1
and has been adapted from the UNESCO (1998) report to reflect some aspects of the Somalia context.
These ideas are more fully developed in Appendix 3.
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