A UK based education focused non-profit utilized a program insights platform to assess & monitor school quality.
The client is a UK based non-profit agency working with a state education department in central India. They had designed a program to assess the quality of ~120,000 public schools based on specific parameters. They were looking for a technology driven solution that would allow them to manage the flow of information from distant, rural areas to the state headquarters in a seamless and near real-time basis. They also wanted generation of insights and reports to be automated.
Technology to the rescue
The non-profit was grappling with a lot of challenges owing to the scale and the landscape of the program.
- Offline data entry for usage of the app at locations with no internet connectivity
- Bi-lingual platform for a higher uptake by school staff in rural areas
- Shift from paper based entry, collection, reporting enabling real-time insights
There were couple of other challenges – designing a web application intuitive enough for first time users, no password (but secure) login based system
Large program with challenging infrastructure
The non-profit had signed up an MoU with the state Education department in central India to assess all public schools on quality, and to provide recommendations from cluster level to state level – to improve the school quality. They had developed a survey that was focused on eight different parameters. They had planned for a paper based survey, but soon realised the logistical challenges and the cost implications of the entire exercise.
There were multiple challenges to even execute the program through tech enabled solution. Internet connectivity in remote and rural areas was a challenge. Then there was the issue of English language competency. The biggest challenge of all was that most users were not familiar with using a laptop or a smart phone. As a consequence, a standard password based login was not effective as well.
Program Intelligence at scale
The school quality assessment program was a program intelligence solution requirement that challenges the limits of technology.
Once functional, numerous benefits were driven through the application:
a. Allowed results to be reflected in real-time
b. This data was then collated and insights were generated automatically through the system at the desired administrative level
c. Allowed for fast, click-of-few-buttons based comparison of one admin level against other
d. Served as a repository for all surveys completed across regions – without the need to preserve paper based records.