The types of knowledge required to manage and monitor education systems depend on the sub-sectors (levels or branches) concerned (such as basic education, intermediate education, technical education, higher education, etc.), the directorates (or other managerial subdivisions) involved within each sub-sector, and the responsibilities entrusted to them.
The ministerial organization chart (see Table 3) refl ects the purpose and activities of each entity. These activities condition the kind of information needed to carry out the tasks assigned to the entities concerned. In addition to the needs of the administrative purpose, information is also required to ensure better management, monitoring, and implementation of reforms at the school level.
Organization chart of the ministry responsible for the education sector in Senegal
Government administration of the education sector is directed by the Ministry of Pre-school, Basic, and Intermediate Secondary Education, and Instruction in National Languages.
This organization chart clearly reveals the extent of needs in terms of information between the various sub-sectors and the different directorates within each one. Functional interrelations that link the various stakeholders must be refl ected in the information required to run the education system as a whole. This highlights the need for an integrated
approach6 in the management of data, information, and knowledge
concerning education systems. From a technical standpoint, the concept of ‘identifi er’ is a way of managing data fl ows transparently across the various channels exploiting them (see Box 5).
6. The integrated approach involves processing the information system by taking into account its different components and its constituent sub-systems. It will be discussed further below.
Table 3. Organization chart of the Ministry of Education, Senegal
General Secretariat
Ministry of Pre-school, Basic and Intermediate Secondary Education, and
Instruction in National Languages Private Offi ce Directorate Directorate of General Administration and Infrastructure (DAGE)
Directorate of Planning and Reform of Education (DPRE)
Directorate of Examinations and Competitive
Examinations (DEXCO) Directorate of School
Facilities (DEqS)
Directorate of Intermediate and General Secondary Education (DEMGS)
Directorate of Pre-school Education (DEPS) Directorate of Literacy and
National Languages (DALN)
Directorate of Basic Education (DEE) Directorate of Human Resources (DRH) Directorate of Examinations and Competitive Examinations (DEXCO)
Directorate of Training and Communication (DFC)
Directorate of Legal Affairs, Liaison and Documentation (DAJLD)
General Inspectorate of
Education (IGEN) Inspectorate of the Daaras (ID) Internal Inspectorate (II) Division of School Medical
Supervision (DCMS)
Division of Arab Education (DEA)
Division of Private Education (DEP)
Computer Unit of the Ministry of Education (CIME)
Permanent General Secretariat of the National Commission for UNESCO
National Centre for School and Vocational Guidance (CNOSP)
Division for School Radio and Television Broadcasting (DRTS)
National Institute of Studies and Action for Educational Development (INEADE)
Division for Sports and Youth Activities (DSAJ)
Monitoring Bureau (BS) Division for School Canteens
Box 5. Demographic data
Examples of information needed to manage education systems
For each category of entity managed, we give examples of information needed to manage it.
Education institutions: name, level, status, location, environment, director or head,
etc.
School age population: age, gender, etc.
Pupils and students: name, age, gender, level, origin, address, distance from institution,
etc.
Formal Teaching/Educational Arrangements: class, level, type of organization, etc. Teachers: name, age, gender, training and qualifi cations, starting date, length of service
in the school, place of work, fi eld(s) of specialization, family status, career, etc.
Other staff: name, age, gender, post, training and qualifi cations, starting date, length
of service in the school, place of work, fi eld(s) of specialization, family status, career, etc.
Infrastructure: classrooms, other premises, water/electricity/telephone/Internet access,
health facilities, areas, state, etc.
Canteens and school boarding facilities: participants, organization, etc.
Teaching facilities: teaching manuals by level and subject, guides, types and state of
teaching materials, computers, etc.
Examination results: candidates, successful candidates, by gender, etc.
Knowledge and skills required
Financial resources and expenditure: by level, type of institution, source of funding,
nature of expenditure, etc.
Further development of children who have left school.
Conduct and opinion of those involved: parents, teachers, school heads, etc.
(qualitative data will also be relevant here). Etc.
Information gathering procedures will depend on the management structure concerned. Thus, for the school head, information gathering will be based on school records, whereas the planning directorate will use questionnaire-based surveys. The information format also depends on the management entity. At school level, management concerns will require that personal information about students/pupils should be available, for example, whereas for monitoring needs within a directorate for forward planning, for example, planners will need instead to know the number of students/pupils by gender, class, age, etc.; or the number of teachers by status, gender, level of qualifi cation, etc.
It will be noted even so that planning directorates7 within ministries play a special part in knowledge management because of their remit in that they are expected to manage a major share of information on education, and particularly school statistics. These statistics are of great signifi cance in the activities of planning directorates for several reasons: (i) because of the resources they involve; (ii) because of their recurrent nature; and, fi nally (iii) because of the importance of the information they offer on the state of the education system, and especially that of educational provision and available resources.
Even though educational statistics represent a necessary and vital source of information, they are not suffi cient for the comprehensive management of an education system as a whole. The individual information and knowledge developed and managed within schools constitute an invaluable knowledge base for the education system overall. The quality of a school’s information system is not only a requirement for sound qualitative management of educational institutions, but also underpins the reliability of the information transmitted to national and sub-national management entities. Reliability is guaranteed because the information is of permanent use, fi rst to the school, and as a result becomes the focus of special attention at local level.
7. The precise name of such directorates may vary from one country to the next. While some refer to ‘planning’, others often use ‘forward planning’. However, their basic remit remains the same.
The identifi er: (also ‘ID’) is a word, a number, a symbol, or a combination of these, which uniquely characterizes each entity, such as a school, a teacher, a student, etc. In a database design, it is not possible to have two entities with the same identifi er. It is by defi nition a property, a feature denoting the entity concerned in a unique way. In general it is a number or code that is often composite and includes several pieces of information. Thus the identifi er of a school may consist of the number of the locality in which it is situated, the type of school and a fi gure (representing the ‘Nth’ school of the same type established in the same locality). The identifi er of the teacher is often denoted by what is termed a reference or registration number. Identifi ers are unique and do not vary over time. This twofold characteristic – uniqueness and permanence – means that they are essential elements in the management of relational databases, which are now the most widely used. For effective management of education systems, it is vital that the managed entities (schools, teachers, etc.) possess identifi ers for reasons linked to both administrative and computerized management.