Education management information system for tracking students’ academic progress in secondary schools: a case of Arusha region

Abstract

Worldwide, the application of the Education Management Information System in schools for administering academic activities is termed as a fundamental practice of delivering quality education. In developing countries including Tanzania, most secondary schools use manual systems for administering academic activities. The manual system leads to ineffective collection and dissemination of information required to support the formulation of educational sound policies of enhancing the practice of delivering quality education and parental involvement in monitoring students’ academic progress. This study investigated the strength and weaknesses of the use of manual systems in administering schools’ academic activities. Structured interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data from teachers, students, parents and education officers in the Arusha region. Data were analyzed and findings revealed that the manual system leads to poor parental involvement for students’ academic achievement, poor delivery of quality education and low productivity of teachers. The study concluded by implementing an Education Management Information System that can effectively enhance the accurate and timely collection and dissemination of quality data required to support policymakers in planning and monitoring of academic activities of enhancing the practice of delivering quality education for sustainable development. Moreover, the study recommends further research on investigating the feasibility of integrating the Learning Management Information System into a digital system to improve the work productivity of teachers for students’ academic achievement.