Teachers have welcomed the recently unveiled Teacher Management Information System (TMIS), saying the electronic platform will help improve service delivery in the education sector.

The educationists were speaking to The New Times a few days after the Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB) launched TMIS, on June 3, in a move touted as a major breakthrough in efforts to improve management and performance of teachers countrywide.

Mamerthe Uwayezu, a teacher at Groupe Scolaire Karenge in Rwamagana District, Eastern Province, said the TMIS is "what we’ve been waiting for.”

"I think it will make a lot of difference,” she said. "REB has over the years improved a lot, but the lack of a synchronized automated system was always the Achilles heel on their part,” she said.

She added: "Now that this has finally been fixed, I expect to see significant improvement.” 

Asked what she believes the system will directly address, Uwayezu said: "Approving the transfer of a teacher took so long, while services reserved for teachers were also generally poor due to poor coordination, there were also issues related to delays in salary claims that took long and were tedious. We expect this to be addressed going forward. TMIS is good news for us.”

Uwayezu is far from being the only teacher who’s thrilled with the new technology platform.

Emmanuel Nzabahimana, Head teacher at Kaduha secondary school in Nyamagabe District, Southern Province, told The New Times: "As a head teacher, it was sometimes difficult to keep abreast of new teachers and other dynamics. We had teachers who were not qualified as required and that was a barrier to quality education which often resulted in poor performance.”

‘No more blame game’

Asked what he expected from TMIS, Nzabahimana said, "It is great that this technology will be used to assess the performance of teachers and provide training based on the qualification of the teachers in an organised and timely manner.

"We hope that head teachers will no longer be blamed for poor performance of teachers since the system will help to get rid of the unqualified ones.”

Francois Habamahirwe, who teaches at Kabuye secondary school in Gasabo District, Kigali, also shared his views about the development: "I am happy that TMIS will be used to monitor our payments. Sometimes you see deductions from your salary without knowing the reason, yet some see no such deductions, we hope this system will avoid such things.”

"With everything now well recorded in a database, we expect to receive good service,” he said, adding that the platform will help monitor the performance of teachers and allow for fair appraisal processes. "Performance of teachers will improve as a result.”

Chantal Umulisa, a teacher in Nyarugenge District, Kigali, said, "the new technology is welcome news as it will simplify tasks involved with management of teachers.”

She noted that, previously, it was easy for one to teach a subject they were not good at, which she said would now be confined to the past "because the system will play a key role in allocating subjects to teachers.”

Umulisa also said that, with the TMIS, she expects that all teachers will be paid in accordance with their qualifications, adding that, previously, mix-ups in salary disbursements were not uncommon. "We do not expect such errors as paying teachers with A0 (a bachelor’s degree holder) a salary for an A2 (senior six graduate) teacher.”

But she also warned of potential challenges.

‘Older teachers might struggle’

"A web-based system requires a good internet to operate, this means teachers with internet issues might sometimes struggle,” she said.

She also said the digital platform could also prove challenging for older teachers.  "Some might struggle to adapt, I hope teachers will work together and help one another if the system is to be effective.”

REB says that TMIS will help in various functions such as recruitment, registration, and licensing professional teachers. Other areas in which the system is expected to come in handy include appointment, promotions and transfers of teachers as well as capacity building programmes.