Ministry of Education Launches EMIS Policy

Her Excellency, Dr. Najwa Qubeilat, started by thanking all Ministry of Education staff in Jordan for making EMIS one of the Kingdom’s most successful digital initiatives, marking an important milestone in the governments’ long-term commitment to strengthening evidence-based decision making in the education sector.  

“Today’s launch comes at an important time where we as a Ministry are working to streamline our procedures to achieve the ambitious goals laid out in our Education Strategic Plan. The operationalization of the EMIS Policy will be a critical next step, and I am pleased that we have brought together all of our key stakeholders and partners on the occasion of this launch, with the joint goal of ensuring that the Ministry’s EMIS serves its ultimate purpose, which is to enhance education delivery throughout Jordan” she said.Mr. Borhene Chakroun, UNESCO’s Director of the Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems, who attended the launch event as part of his official mission from Paris to Jordan, congratulated the Ministry of Education for the launch of the EMIS Policy.

“Jordan is already leading by example, as a country that has successfully managed a very large and complex EMIS system for many years. The endorsement of the EMIS Policy is an important opportunity to strengthen the foundation of a strong and sustainable EMIS system,” said Mr. Borhene Chakroun.

He also highlighted that Jordan has the potential to become a role model for other countries striving for better evidence-based policy making.

The EMIS Policy will enhance the EMIS enabling environment by clearly delineating key roles and responsibilities, as well as outlining the necessary resources, governance mechanisms, and procedures for an efficient and sustainable management of the MoE’s EMIS. This will, in turn, ensure quality assurance, accountability, inclusion and resilience for the entire education system in Jordan. The Policy also provides a framework that mandates the integration of different datasets and software across different MoE departments allowing the Ministry to consolidate its digital ecosystem for education.

In 2016, the Government of Jordan officially adopted the Open-Source Education Management Information System (OpenEMIS) as their main data platform. It is a core MoE planning tool that provides accurate, timely, integrated, comprehensive, and disaggregated data on students, teachers, staff, schools, field directorates, and infrastructure. Furthermore, it provides reports that are used to produce statistical digests, and indicators, which serve decision-makers at all administrative levels to inform ministry, school, and field directorate policy evaluation and formulation. As of today, EMIS is used by over 2 million users across the Kingdom, covering all 7,400 public schools.

The EMIS Policy was developed with UNESCO technical support, under the System Strengthening Partnership (SSP) with the Ministry of Education programme, implemented under a Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) with Canada, Italy, Norway, and Switzerland.  Support under the SSP aims to strengthen the core policy, planning, and monitoring functions and capacities, and includes technical assistance to the MoE in areas of data collection, analysis, and utilization through their OpenEMIS platform. OpenEMIS was first supported in Jordan in 2014 through funding by the European Union Delegation to Jordan and UNESCO technical assistance.

UNESCO’s support to Jordan’s EMIS strategically aligns with the goals in the recently extended Education Strategic Plan (ESP) 2018-2025, with EMIS as a key component of the System Strengthening Domain of the ESP., as and contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG4, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, and the Education 2030 Agenda.

The ceremony was chaired by the Secretary General for Administrative and Financial Affairs, H.E Dr. Najwa Qubeilat, on behalf of the Minister of Education, H.E. Prof. Wajih Owais, and was also attended by MoE officials from central and field level, as well as education partners, and national stakeholders, including members of the private sector.