FHI 360 is partnering with Cambridge Education to improve evidence-based decisionmaking and accountability in Tanzania by establishing an integrated, national, education management information system (EMIS) known as Global ED*ASSIST. The system has been established initially in seven of the poorest regions in Tanzania within just three months, making this effort the fastest-ever EMIS installation of this scale in the country. Once the system is taken to scale, we expect it to support more than 25,000 schools and 10 million students.

Funded by the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID) and implemented in partnership with the Prime Minister’s Office of Tanzania, the EQUIP-T project is using K-Mobile, FHI 360’s geographic information system, to map all 5,500 schools in the seven regions. Along with extensive training of staff in the Prime Minister’s Office in the use and maintenance of K-Mobile, this mapping has improved the capacity of the government to budget and plan for future EMIS efforts.

To facilitate data collection in schools with little or no connectivity, FHI 360 is using its School Information System (SIS) from its m360 mobile suite. SIS is able to transmit entire databases in real time via mobile internet or SMS and is helping schools monitor infrastructure data, teacher and student performance, daily attendance and other school management activities. SIS is also helping to make this information accessible by all administrative levels in the Tanzania education system via the internet or portable devices, dramatically improving access to accurate and timely data for informed decisionmaking.