United Nations

Educational, Scientic and

Cultural Organization

OpenEMIS

OpenEMIS Builder: This programme

allows database administrators to
adapt the generic tool to the
particular characteristics of a national
education system, to set parameters and
customize the elements of the information
system and to create the data input forms.
The software is used before deployment
and then once a year to adjust the system
to the data needs.

The modules currently available in OpenEMIS User

include the following:

OpenEMIS User: This is made of

different modules to handle daily
operations at each level of the
administrative structure of the educational
system. The modules allow the actual data
inputs and queries, and the production of
reports, charts and indicators. OpenEMIS
User can be installed down to the school
level, even in institutions without an
internet connection.

OpenEMIS thus consists of a comprehensive package

which can be quickly deployed and used in Member
States. Moreover, additional customisation and
adaptations are made possible as UNESCO is providing
documented source code to Member States without
restrictions, in addition to training and technical
assistance upon request.

Educational Institution Management Module;

Educational Institution Directory Module;
Data Aggregation and Analysis Module;
Export Module (including to GIS);
User Rights Management Module;
Data Collection and Dissemination Policy Module;
Instant Messaging Module;
Offline Module (for countries with weak IT
infrastructure).

UNESCO 2008/ Abdelhak Senna

UNESCO 2010

TWO EASY-TO-USE
COMPUTER PROGRAMMES
ARE AVAILABLE
TO INTERACT
WITH THIS GENERIC
DATABASE:

CONTACT US
Section for Sector Planning and Emergency Responses
Division for Planning and Development of Education
Systems
Education Sector
UNESCO
per@unesco.org

Open Education
Management
Information System

WHAT IS OpenEMIS?

HOW DOES
IT WORK?

Because reliable information to support the formulation

of evidence-based and credible education policies and
plans is lacking, UNESCO has developed OpenEMIS to
address the needs of its Member States in this area.

OpenEMIS is built around a

generic database structure which
is able to store data over several
years. It also provides a software
programming environment
for the quick development of
additional modules attuned to
national contexts.

OpenEMIS aims at facilitating the process of setting

up national information systems which are adapted to
the needs of the education administration at central,
regional and local levels. The flexibility of OpenEMIS
allows for its use in a variety of developing country
contexts, with or without internet connection, and
enables the transfer of data at all levels, from schools
to ministries of education, through regional and local
administrative units.
Issued without conditions or restrictions for use by
Member States, OpenEMIS can readily be adapted
to the information needs of their education systems.
Source codes are available for all via the internet or
upon request to UNESCO.

WHAT CAN BE DONE WITH

OpenEMIS?
Once adapted to the national education context,
OpenEMIS allows:

Improvement of data collection, processing, analysis

and information dissemination;

Creation of easy-to-use forms for data entry and

storage of information;

UNESCO 2010

By default, the database stores

the administrative structures
and education system structures
defined by the country (down
to national curricula school
subjects, by grade). Data can then
be collected and processed down
to the educational institution level. The system
handles and produces descriptive data, tabular
datasets (pupils, teaching and non-teaching staff,
classes, buildings, rooms, equipment, textbooks)
and individual registers for pupils and teachers to
facilitate classroom management, if necessary.

OpenEMIS has been piloted in Mongolia

Facilitation of access to and manipulation of data

for the three types of data users: application
programmers, database administrators and end-users;

in a representative sample of educational

Sharing of information in a multi-user environment;

and

involving users from each administrative

Exchange of information with other systems, such as

data warehouses, geographical information systems
(GIS), spreadsheets, etc.

oriented functions into OpenEMIS for the

institutions. A participatory approach

level allowed UNESCO to incorporate user-

daily management of the education system