1. Infrastructure Projects Facility in the Western Balkans Part of the Western Balkans Investment Framework Facility funded by the European Union GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS) : SUPPORTING EDUCATION INFRASTRUCTURE DECISION-MAKING TA-ALB-10

2. Infrastructure Projects Facility in the Western Balkans Part of the Western Balkans Investment Framework Facility funded by the European Union Progress report - TA-ALB-1002/12/2011 TA-ALB-10 What is GIS and how does it work with SIMS? 2  GIS is a computer system designed to enable users to collect, manage, analyze big quantities of spatial data to help in planning and decision-taking for a community or region.  The MoES GIS application uses the data collected in the national school survey and stored in SIMS. It turns numbers into visual data.  The visual data can be shown at different levels of detail allowing decisions to be made at an individual school level, a village level, a regional level and a national level.  It allows data to be compared across the country.  Each SIMS report can have a GIS application associated with it.

3. Infrastructure Projects Facility in the Western Balkans Part of the Western Balkans Investment Framework Facility funded by the European Union Progress report - TA-ALB-1002/12/2011 TA-ALB-10 GIS Module Architecture GIS Server dBase Server ArcGIS Desktop MoES GIS Specialist GIS Module Users Web Based GIS (operates in any Web-Browser) Analyze, display Data Update GIS Data Produce new map scenarios Feed Web-GIS with new data … 3

4. Infrastructure Projects Facility in the Western Balkans Part of the Western Balkans Investment Framework Facility funded by the European Union Progress report - TA-ALB-1002/12/2011 TA-ALB-10 How does GIS support policy-driven decision making? 4 In any education ministry around the world, staff ask similar questions that impact on planning for the future. They are policy-related questions that depend on an evidence- base to provide accurate answers. These questions may include: PQ - 1.Do we need 4796 schools in Albania? Can we rationalize the number of schools so that we have more money to spend on a smaller number of schools?  Which schools could we close? PQ - 2. Are there any schools that need to be closed because they pose a threat to the lives of students and teachers?  What other schools could the students be sent to? PQ - 3.Are there schools that pose a health risk to students because of lack of water and sanitation?  What could be done to ensure that girls continue to go to school? GIS HELPS US ANSWER THESE POLICY QUESTIONS

5. Infrastructure Projects Facility in the Western Balkans Part of the Western Balkans Investment Framework Facility funded by the European Union SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (SIMS) TA-ALB-10

6. Infrastructure Projects Facility in the Western Balkans Part of the Western Balkans Investment Framework Facility funded by the European Union Progress report - TA-ALB-1002/12/2011 TA-ALB-10 School Infrastructure Management System System Users  SIMS is an interactive, multi-user information management tool that provides easy access to the infrastructure data of all Albanian pre- University schools 6

7. Infrastructure Projects Facility in the Western Balkans Part of the Western Balkans Investment Framework Facility funded by the European Union Progress report - TA-ALB-1002/12/2011 TA-ALB-10 School Infrastructure Management System SIMS Architecture 7

8. Infrastructure Projects Facility in the Western Balkans Part of the Western Balkans Investment Framework Facility funded by the European Union Progress report - TA-ALB-1002/12/2011 TA-ALB-10 School Infrastructure Management System System Components Description  Data Viewer - Enables SIMS users to view all of the data collected for any institution - It offers a search utility to quickly locate the desired institution(school and building) - Easy navigation with tabs to jump to the section of interest  Reporting - Enable decision makers to generate various reports for each of the thematic areas - SIMS reports offer charts and summary tables with aggregation at multiple levels, and drill down and up capabilities  Data Entry - Enables SIMS users to update the school infrastructure data - It offers the look and feel of the auditing forms used in the field and it validates the information entered to ensure the quality of the data entry  Administration - Enables the administration of the user permissions, by defining what data and functionalities will be available to the different users 8