Analysis of the Education Management and Information System of Jamaica: Diagnosis and Proposal for Strengthening the EMIS

This document analyzes the functioning of the Education Management and Information System (EMIS) of Jamaica, its strengths and challenges related to the key management processes and structural conditions. A survey methodology was used for the analysis of the six key management processes - (i) Physical infrastructure and equipment; (ii) Schools1; (iii) Human resources, budget and finance; (iv) Students and learning; (v) Digital content for teacher training and students learning; and (vi) Tools for strategic management - and the two structural conditions - (i) Technological infrastructure and (ii) Governance and institutional arrangements. There are several main findings. In terms of strengths, the analysis shows that the processes of human, financial and budgetary resources present the highest percentage of subprocesses in the Established level and that technological infrastructure pre-requisites are in place to sustain the improvement of the EMIS. However, EMIS sub-systems are dispersed and poorly integrated and are not covering all the needs of management processes related to the EMIS. The Ministry of Education and Youth and Information (MOEYI) also has an urgent need to develop a comprehensive and realistic strategic plan for the implementation of its EMIS and to ensure the initial and recurrent funding associated with it. Nor is there a change management plan at the MOEYI to support the evolution of the EMIS at all levels. Overall, the MOEYI is at a critical stage of its EMIS transition from a census based EMIS to a transactional information system able to track real-time information about each student, teaching and non-teaching workforce, school infrastructure and assets. This paper outlines a strengthening proposal.