Innovation: Microsoft, Ministry of Education collaborate to help digitize education sector
Addis Abeba – Microsoft has collaborated with the Ethiopian Ministry of Education to implement a Higher Educational Management Information System supporting the successful digital transformation of the education sector.
The Ministry of Education has a mission to ensure effective, quality, and equitable education and training systems through building the capacity of the education sector at all levels. Facing an urgent need for comprehensive data and insights to ensure the success of the transformation process in the education sector, the Ministry sought to introduce country-wide education data analytics.
With no Higher Educational Training Management Information System (HETMIS), decision-makers were lacking relevant data to drive the right decisions, and the impact of the implemented strategies could not be measured. The education transformation process was in urgent need of comprehensive data and insights to ensure its success.
As part of its Leaders in Digital Transformation of Education program, Microsoft is empowering education systems to move beyond siloed and static data to integrated, real-time insights using modern data and AI services and practices supported by our solution partners.
Introducing advanced analytics in education
EDLIGO, a Microsoft Azure, PowerBI, and Office365 powered solution for advanced analytics and decision-making in education, was implemented in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education. A strategy, steering, and project management board was created to ensure successful execution, and a continuous improvement work stream was put in place.
The HETMIS strengthens the Ministry’s data collection, management, reporting, and analytics capabilities. It enables to Ministry to master the end-to-end data collection and analysis process and provides a powerful technology platform. The system can be used by multiple stakeholders at different levels, from higher education institutions to college or department levels.
Capacity building and training were planned from the outset. Impacting over 50 public universities, 380 private universities, and 1,800 TVET institutions, the system roll-out was delivered in phases to minimize risk and ensure successful implementation.
“The Ministry of Education has a vision to sustainably build education and training systems that ensure quality and equitable education for all Ethiopian citizens that will produce a competent and competitive workforce fueling the country’s economic development. This system allows us to pursue our digital strategy across the education sector,” says Zelalem Assefa, Chief Executive Officer, ICT, and Digital Education.
“Microsoft is committed to helping education leaders navigate the complexity of digital transformation. Our goal is to partner with governments and education ministries to envision what is possible and achieve it by leveraging data analytics to optimize student outcomes. In the process, this helps create efficient, responsive, and sustainable processes and allocation of resources,” comments Louise Macquet, Learning Passport and EMIS Program Manager, Microsoft.
With the successful implementation of the project, the Ministry is now equipped with a Higher Educational Management Information System radically improving planning, decision making, monitoring and the evaluation of all higher education institutions. Dispatch
