Educational institutions to come under digital monitoring

The government is all set to bring all educational institutions in the country under a digital monitoring system by December to ensure transparency and accountability. Sources in the Directorate of Inspection and Audit (DIA) under the education ministry said the authorities of 36,000 educational institutions
would upload daily information about students, teachers, employers, and employees on the website with the help of special software. DIA officials said they had limited manpower, making it difficult for them to monitor all the educational institutions round the year. They believe the digital system would solve that problem.
The software would instantly give the government a complete picture of the institutions, furnishing such details as student and teachers’ attendance, as well as income and expenditure of the institutions, the DIA officials said. They added the software, developed by the DIA, would enable the government to send short messages or voice messages to all the educational institutions and their students. Besides, the head of one institution would visit another under the ‘peer inspection’ system and he/she would be able to at once upload the findings on the website. Sources said the digital monitoring system would help combat irregularities and ensure transparency and accountability of schools and madrasas. The DIA said a student would have to provide his/her mobile number, present and permanent addresses, and parents or guardians’ mobile number for uploading on the website.
Students over 18 years would give the details of their national identity cards.
On the other hand, teachers, employees, employers, and managing committee members would also upload their data, the DIA said.
Students, teachers, employers, and employees would have to digitally record their attendance through the software. Sources said digital attendance would be recorded with the help of ID cards and, subsequently, through fingerprints.
The educational institutions would also upload their daily income and expenditure. If inconsistencies are spotted, the DIA would at once step in to draw the attention of the institution authorities.   
DIA sources said the software would enable the education minister or secretary to send voice messages or SMSs to students, teachers, parents, guardians and the managing committees of 36,000 educational institutions at a time.
The institutions would have to upload 17 types of information including teachers’ performance, class assessment, Annual Confidential Reports (ACR) of the teachers, review of class routine, income and expenditure, sanitation, classroom environment, library, laboratory, language lab, computer lab, extra curriculum activities, etc.
For security, a password would be given to the head of the educational institution and, in case of problems, back-up support can be sought on a hotline.
The head of one institution would inspect another institution through a peer inspection system at the end of each academic calendar to check whether the institution is uploading correct information.
Education ministry sources said the initiative was aimed at maintaining education quality and to bring the educational institutions under proper management.
In order to run the digital monitoring system and peer inspection, the government had, in October last year, launched a pilot project in five educational institution such as Siddheswari Women’s College, Matijheel Model School and College, South Banashri Model High School and College, Madinatul Ulum Model Mahila Madrasa and Mamanagar Technical School and College.
DIA joint director Bipul Chandra Sarker told The Independent that it was difficult for them to monitor all the monthly pay order (MPO)-listed educational institutions because of inadequate manpower.
“We can hardly monitor more than 1,500 educational institutions with our existing manpower. We have seen that a monitoring team gets the chance inspect an institution only once every five years,” he said.
“When the monitoring system is weak, the academic and financial management of the educational institutions remain out of government monitoring. If the digital system materialises, it would be possible to monitor regularly,” he added.
“This digital monitoring system would impart discipline to the academic, administrative and financial matters of the institutions. It would be possible to address irregularities in any form,” he added.
Sarker said he would give a presentation on peer inspection soon before the education minister and others. He expected the system to be introduced across the country by December.

Educational institutions to come under digital monitoring

The government is all set to bring all educational institutions in the country under a digital monitoring system by December to ensure transparency and accountability. Sources in the Directorate of Inspection and Audit (DIA) under the education ministry said the authorities of 36,000 educational institutions would upload daily information about students, teachers, employers, and employees on the website with the help of special software. DIA officials said they had limited manpower, making it difficult for them to monitor all the educational institutions round the year. They believe the digital system would solve that problem. The software would instantly give the government a complete picture of the institutions, furnishing such details as student and teachers attendance, as well as income and expenditure of the institutions, the DIA officials said. They added the software, developed by the DIA, would enable the government to send short messages or voice messages to all the educational institutions and their students. Besides, the head of one institution would visit another under the peer inspection system and he/she would be able to at once upload the findings on the website. Sources said the digital monitoring system would help combat irregularities and ensure transparency and accountability of schools and madrasas. The DIA said a student would have to provide his/her mobile number, present and permanent addresses, and parents or guardians mobile number for uploading on the website. Students over 18 years would give the details of their national identity cards. On the other hand, teachers, employees, employers, and managing committee members would also upload their data, the DIA said. Students, teachers, employers, and employees would have to digitally record their attendance through the software. Sources said digital attendance would be recorded with the help of ID cards and, subsequently, through fingerprints. The educational institutions would also upload their daily income and expenditure. If inconsistencies are spotted, the DIA would at once step in to draw the attention of the institution authorities. DIA sources said the software would enable the education minister or secretary to send voice messages or SMSs to students, teachers, parents, guardians and the managing committees of 36,000 educational institutions at a time. The institutions would have to upload 17 types of information including teachers performance, class assessment, Annual Confidential Reports (ACR) of the teachers, review of class routine, income and expenditure, sanitation, classroom environment, library, laboratory, language lab, computer lab, extra curriculum activities, etc. For security, a password would be given to the head of the educational institution and, in case of problems, back-up support can be sought on a hotline. The head of one institution would inspect another institution through a peer inspection system at the end of each academic calendar to check whether the institution is uploading correct information. Education ministry sources said the initiative was aimed at maintaining education quality and to bring the educational institutions under proper management. In order to run the digital monitoring system and peer inspection, the government had, in October last year, launched a pilot project in five educational institution such as Siddheswari Womens College, Matijheel Model School and College, South Banashri Model High School and College, Madinatul Ulum Model Mahila Madrasa and Mamanagar Technical School and College. DIA joint director Bipul Chandra Sarker told The Independent that it was difficult for them to monitor all the monthly pay order (MPO)-listed educational institutions because of inadequate manpower. We can hardly monitor more than 1,500 educational institutions with our existing manpower. We have seen that a monitoring team gets the chance inspect an institution only once every five years, he said. When the monitoring system is weak, the academic and financial management of the educational institutions remain out of government monitoring. If the digital system materialises, it would be possible to monitor regularly, he added. This digital monitoring system would impart discipline to the academic, administrative and financial matters of the institutions. It would be possible to address irregularities in any form, he added. Sarker said he would give a presentation on peer inspection soon before the education minister and others. He expected the system to be introduced across the country by December.