THE Department of Education (DepEd) has been able to easily monitor the total public school enrolment with the use of online information system or the Learners' Information System (LIS).
Education Secretary Armin Luistro said the LIS, which was launched in 2011, enabled them to better track the Filipino students in formal and non-formal instruction to formulate more appropriate interventions in the provision of quality education.
"While being a tech- based solution, the LIS involves an inclusive, community- driven process that thrives because of the active engagement and participation of all teachers, principals, planning officers, and other DepEd personnel all throughout the Philippines," Luistro said.
Considering the size of DepEd and the number of schools it is supervising, Luistro said it is very critical for the sector to be equipped with the right information at the right time to be able to make better decisions. But with the help of LIS, they were able to know the students and could respond better.
"As an example, students who transfer from one school to another can be monitored and better assisted by using data from the LIS," Luistro said.
"What used to take ten months to collect, consolidate, and validate has now been reduced to three months," he added, referring to the result of the use of technology.
Luistro said the department had an access to 20 million student enrollees in public schools, as of June 6, 2014.
"The use of automation and technology has helped the Department update information on enrollment for planning, budgeting, and resource allocation among others," he said.
Luistro said the LIS aimed "to promoting transparency, informed decision making, and empowerment at different levels of the organization."
Out of the 46,648 public schools in the country, Luistro said that only 140 schools or 0.3 percent of overall schools had failed to submit data for the school year 2014-2015. The small percentage illustrates a "very high participation and submission rate" by the schools, he added.
Luistro also assured that the concerned divisions have already been instructed to complete the remaining school information immediately. (Sunnex)