After close to three years of hard work, the Department of Education has finally achieved an important milestone by completing their project-a new-look website, which was launched by the Secretary for Education, Dr. Uke Kombra, PhD, OBE in a small but significant ceremony recently.
The Department according to Dr. Kombra, has been using the old website which was developed by the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Division in 2005.
“It took the Department nearly three years due to capacity and manpower challenges; however, it was a milestone achievement.”
The project to upgrade the website was coordinated by the Media and Communication Unit of the Department in close consultation with the ICT Division.
“I thank the leadership and staff of ICT and media and communication for completing this task even though it took longer than expected.”
Dr. Kombra stated that the department now has a website which is more modern but simple and user-friendly for the main clients who are students and teachers in the National Education System.
“Parents and guardians and our many partners, stakeholders and the general public who will now have access to information and data about important policies and programs and announcements, news and events about what is happening in the National Education System.”
He added that the website also hosts a number of important Applications for teachers and public servants from the department to access and also has a mobile phone version which users can easily access using their mobile phones.
Kombra challenged the staff in media and communication and ICT to continuously update the site with relevant and current information for users to access, as he also appealed to the senior management of the Department to also contribute information for the website.
Apart from launching the website, the Education Secretary also launched the Meeting Logger Application to streamline the process of documenting meetings which is an application which will be used to capture key information, action items, decisions, and discussions that occur during meetings.
“It also helps to track action items and responsibilities, ensuring that tasks are not forgotten or overlooked; it ensures transparency by allowing team members to access meeting information, even if they were unable to attend in person and over time, it serves as a historical reference, helping track progress, identify patterns, and make informed decisions.”
Meanwhile Dr. Kombra said this application will complement and strengthen the decision that the Department made to introduce paperless meetings in August 2016.
“Since then, the Department has saved a lot of cost and time on photocopying after the introduction of this initiative.”