Database system for Govt. schools with students exam results and health records
View(s):Details of all Government school students will be included in a database system, with information on examination and term test results, health records, assessment reviews saved in digital format, an Education Ministry senior official said recently.
Education Director (Data Management) G.M. Neil Gunadasa told Education Times phase one of the student data collecting project is presently taking place.
“About 3.25 million students’ data has been collected. Another one million is pending and that will be completed by the end of June,” he said.
At present there are about 10,200 Government schools with a student population of 4.2 million.
Under phase one, student data including their Body Mass Index (BMI) will be included to check if their weight is healthy. Their respective grades, subjects, extra-curricular activities and parent details have already been collected and saved in the database.
“Once the data cleaning process (the process of detecting and correcting data) is completed all students will be issued an ID number. They will sit for all their exams under this number, unlike before when they were given different student numbers for different examinations. Once the database is completed we will hand it over to the Examinations Department. Even if a student changes his or her school, the student ID number will be the same,” Mr Gunadasa said.
Under phase two, student performance will be included in the system.
“This will include term test marks and assessment review marks from Grade six onwards. The schools will be able to identify each student’s performance, and direct them to areas where they excel in or look into study areas that need more attention,” he said.
By the end of this year the Ministry is planning to complete both phases, Mr Gunadasa added.
According to him, school teachers, principals and zonal education officials have an active role to play in providing data on student performance.
“It is important for education officials to be computer savvy, as they will have to work with more technology in the post COVID-19 education system,” he added.
The third phase will be the process of collecting data of school infrastructure, such as toilets, computer laboratories, classroom buildings and other buildings. The process will also look into new features such as solar power, and identify if schools can accommodate such new features.
- Nadia Fazlulhaq