The Current Practice of Data Management of Schools and District Education Offices: Is There a Need for a New Approach?

Currently, many government agencies, such as schools and district education offices, are using manual methods to manage data, which are not only unreliable but also insecure. Even more alarming is that many schools do not have data backups, which surely will have serious repercussions if important data were lost or damaged in unfortunate events. Hence, this study was carried out to examine the current practice of data management in selected schools and a District Education Office (DEO), to determine the problems associated with the current practice, and to propose a new method to help improve data management of such organizations. The study used a qualitative approach using a semi-structured interview, in which eight school principals and one DEO officer were recruited for the interview. The findings showed that the current practice was both ineffective and inefficient, with many schools having no duplicated copies, as backups, of important data. Furthermore, duplicated copies of data made by some of the schools were largely in printed form. More revealingly, the interviewees indicated that they were concerned with the security and safety of their school data and information. Overall, the research findings reinforce the need to develop an information system that is not only reliable but also highly accessible. Hence, a framework was proposed to guide the development of a web-based information system with appropriate functional and non-functional features, with which practitioners, notably school administrators and education officers, could use to improve the current practice of data management in their schools and DEOs.