Through ODK, the Secretariat of Education (SEDUC) has been able collect and analyze data that shows that 90 percent of students in the national education system have continued receiving instruction despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
On March 13, the national education system in Honduras suspended all in-person pre-K, elementary, middle, and high school classes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, SEDUC has worked to implement several different strategies to ensure that students could continue to receive instruction remotely. As of July 1, Honduras remains in a nation-wide quarantine with in-person classes suspended and approximately 19,500 cases of COVID-19 in the country.
During the pandemic, SEDUC has provided educational instruction through educatrachos.edu, radio and television classes; as well as printed material and phone calls. Specific subjects were also prioritized and include Spanish, mathematics, natural sciences and social sciences, as well as English for high school students.
Building on skills and tools developed in coordination with the USAID Honduras Local Governance Activity, SEDUC’s Unit for National Education System Information (USINIEH) developed a survey using ODK to measure the percentage of students receiving some form of classes. ODK, a free and open source software, made it possible to collect, manage, and analyze data generated by teachers on how they are continuing to provide instruction despite the restrictions of the pandemic.
According to the ODK measurement tool, of the 1,871,158 students enrolled according to the Educational Center Administration System (SACE this year; 1,678,447 students are currently being served through various communication channels. In other words, 90% of students have continued the educational process. To date, 19,377 educational centers have been surveyed out of the 23,895 that the national education system has. The tool also identified that WhatsApp was the most common form of education delivery.
This is not the first time SEDUC has relied on ODK to measure, analyze, and adapt education management. The Secretariat also uses ODK to monitor the implementation of the Local Education Performance Plan in western Honduras (Proyecto Educativo de Redes- PER) and to implement the national Supervision Strategy.
By using the ODK tool, SEDUC has been able to measure the progress of education, monitor and support teachers, as well as assess interaction with students. Going forward, SEDUC will use the data produced by the tool to continue to adapt and improve education provision during the pandemic.
