Nearly 400 primary, secondary and high schools in the capital and all 24 provinces have successfully implemented a new system which improves the monitoring of students’ learning, teacher-parent communications and digital school management.

The first part of the system has been launched in 395 schools by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport.

The School Information System (SIS) facilitates the management of schools, as well as the teaching and learning of teachers and students. SIS also provides benefits to guardians, by allowing them to monitor their children’s learning through their mobile phones, said an education ministry spokesman.

Although the SIS was first piloted by the education ministry, in collaboration with the Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC), in late 2023, several teachers have already claimed that the system is effective, and has given parents more confidence in schools.

Education ministry spokeswoman Khuon Vicheka tells The Post that the ministry is working with the ITC to implement the system in two stages.

The first part relates directly to the internal management of schools, including human resources, budgets and teaching hours. This part of the system is currently in use in 395 target schools.

The second part of the system monitors student attendance through the use of QR codes, and notifies parents if their children are absent.

“The QR code part of the system is currently being rolled out in each of the target schools,” she says.

Eam Sokhoeun, whose son studies in grade 11 at Hun Sen Khlaing Leu High School in Preah Sihanouk province’s Sihanoukville, explains that the school has formed a parents’ group on the Telegram instant messaging app, which makes it easy for them to communicate with the school through the SIS programme. She says she is pleased with how simple it is to speak with teachers.

“Since I began using this system late last year, I am almost 100 per cent closer to the teachers. In the past, if teachers wanted to meet with parents or guardians, they needed to send a message through students. Now, they can send a voice message through the Telegram group, and I receive it immediately through my smartphone,” she adds.

The 44-year-old, who lives in Sihanoukville’s Commune 1, explains that the system allows her to monitor her son’s attendance and arrival times, as well as other useful information.

“The SIS makes it easy to provide information to parents about their children’s education. The school also receives any questions parents might have. Information requests from parents can be resolved in a timely manner”, says Sy Vuthy, a teacher in charge of discipline at Hun Sen Khlaing Leu High School.

He adds that this means parents receive answers to queries directly from teachers, eliminating the chance that children could lie, or “forget” to pass teachers’ comment to parents. This makes the discipline process more effective, as it often requires the involvement of both teachers and parents. Overall, he believes the new system has provided many benefits to both students and schools, as well as parents and guardians.

“I think the reason the education ministry has introduced this system is to guarantee clean schools. It also includes the results of competitions,” he says.

According to Vuthy, the school has assigned a teacher to operate the system. Teachers send attendance lists to the assigned SIS operator on a daily basis, which are then compiled into daily and monthly reports.

Many of the parents at the school are active participants of the system, with one of the major benefits of the system being that student attendance has improved, as they are aware that if they are absent, their parents will find out immediately.

Hun Sen Prey Veng Primary School in Prey Veng province also employs the system.

Mean Ra, principal of the primary school, believes that the SIS has improved the efficiency of school management by 70 to 80 per cent, because if any student is absent, the school can notify their parents immediately.

“Before we adopted the SIS, we could not control student attendance. If a student was absent without the knowledge of their parents, we could not inform them straight away, but now we can,” he says.

Pav Sothy, director of the Prey Veng provincial education department, says there are 561 primary schools, 92 secondary schools and 33 high schools in the province, but the SIS has not been widely adopted yet.

“The SIS is an extremely helpful tool. We can message them if their children do not come to school. Parents can also contact the teachers immediately when they have a problem with their children’s education,” he says.

Ever since its implementation at Phnom Penh’s Bak Touk High School, the system has proven to be very convenient, explains Toch Kandal, the school principal.

“Since the implementation of this system, student absences have fallen, and parents have more confidence in the school,” he says.