Monitoring and Evaluation System Components’ and Performance of National Education Management Information System in Public Secondary Schools within Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Globally, Education management information systems has been embraced widely with the aim of gaining information that can be used to make informed management decisions and thus improve the education sector. The Government of Kenya has invested heavily in the institutionalization of the Kenya national education management information system (NEMIS) as a key system that can be the single source of true data regarding education sector. Despite this, NEMIS data has not been converted into accurate information that informs the general objectives of the system. A 2020 report by Ministry of education to Kenya’s National Assembly showed a variance of up 50 per cent of learners in NEMIS as compared to the actual numbers in schools, attributed to data inconsistency, thus affecting the performance of NEMIS with regard to decision making for purposes of allocation of resources to schools. This exploration was inspired by the need to explore the performance of NEMIS in public secondary schools within Nairobi County, Kenya. Precisely, the exploration aimed to explore how ICT infrastructure, human resource capacity, data management processes and stakeholder participation affect the performance of NEMIS. Systems theory, Program theory and Stakeholder theory were utilized to form the theoretical foundations. A Descriptive research design was employee with a target population of 103 public secondary schools, out of which a sample size of 71 schools was picked from which purposive sampling of three key respondents from each school generated a total of 213 respondents. The exploration utilized semi-structured questionnaires as the data collection instrument and achieved a 71 per cent response rate. Data was analyzed by means of descriptive and inferential statistics, and thus a model created through regression analysis. The study established that ICT infrastructure was adequate for use in NEMIS, despite challenges of low quality computers and inadequate computers. With regard to human resource capacity for NEMIS, the study established that a majority of NEMIS users were not regularly trained on its use and thus their capacity on key aspects of NEMIS was rated as average. NEMIS data management processes was also examined. The study established that majority of the NEMIS data management processes were user friendly and report submission was done well. Lastly, the study established that stakeholder’s involvement with regard to regular feedback meetings for parents and teachers to discuss NEMIS’ performance was rarely done. Overall, all the four independent variables accounted for 92.3% of the changes in dependent variable which was performance of NEMIS in public secondary schools within Nairobi County. The exploration thus concluded that the variables had a significant positive effect on the performance of NEMIS in public secondary schools. The exploration recommends that The National Government should improve ICT infrastructure in schools through provision of additional computers and maintenance of the existing ones. Regular training for NEMIS users by the Ministry of education should be considered. Creation of awareness through regular meetings for stakeholders is useful to ensure buy-in and sustainability of NEMIS at school and national levels. Lastly, the study suggests that a comparable investigation in private secondary schools will be useful so as to compare findings.