The Use of Technology for Large-scale Education Planning and Decision-making

In 2007, Nigeria made history by launching the Conditional Grants Scheme (CGS), one of the world's largest poverty elimination campaigns aimed at achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. As part of CGS, the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on the MDGs (OSSAP-MDGs) collaborated with The Earth Institute, Columbia University to develop the Nigeria MDG Information System (NMIS), a web-based platform designed to support data-driven decision-making, local-level planning, and budgeting by Local Government Areas. This paper discusses the evolution of NMIS as a data repository and describes its uses. NMIS maps and visually displays school-related data that can be used for education planning. NMIS illustrates the integration of educational and technological innovations and demonstrates ways in which challenges related to Education Management Information Systems can be overcome. NMIS could serve as a good example for other developing countries that seek to create large databases for public planning. This paper shares lessons learned in terms of the content, design, and potential uses of such information systems for local-level education planning. This paper concludes by highlighting that a data system alone is not sufficient to ensure effective analysis and use of data and multiple rounds of end-user training and case studies must accompany the system.