ISLAMABAD: The importance of collecting reliable data on schools and how they operate was discussed at a seminar on the `Effective Utilisation of Annual School Census Data to Enhance Evidence Based Decision Making in the Education Sector` on Monday.

Effective plans cannot be made in the absence of reliable data and measures need to be taken to ensure the availability of authentic information, said a represent-ative of the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) Yasir Irfan at the seminar hosted by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).

Mr Irfan said that those responsible for collecting and recording data on schools are not aware of the importance of providing correct information.

`Because of this unawareness, we don`t get correct information. Arrangements are being made to train teachers and tell them about how important reliable data is, both for students and for the system,` he added.

Mr Irfan said that people are now beginning to understand the importance of quality information and that people have started making use of material.

`We now get questions about published reports which shows that people are getting interested in using information,` he added.

Talking about NEMIS, Mr Irfan saidthat information is collected by the provincial government at the district level, compiled and then sent to NEMIS for them to upload it on their database.

`A National Education Census (NEC) was carried out in 2005 and data on all educational institutions and seminaries was collected. It was decided that an NEC will be held every five years which could not be done,` he added.

The NEMIS representative said Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had carried out their own education census and that now, plans were being drawn up for compiling data on non-formal schools i.e. educational institutions that are not registered like tuition academies.

SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Qayyum Suleri said that after the 18th amendment, the importance of authentic data for the provinces had increased.

`Reliable information is required torun district government, in the absence of which they cannot perform`, he explained.

Also speaking at the seminar was researcher Minhajul Haq who said the majority of people do not understand the information that is made available because of a lack of education and knowledge and that this was also one of the reasons politicians do not look at data when making policies.

`In developed countries people take an interest in data, such as inHation rates, and discuss statistics with one another.

Meanwhile in a country like Pakistan, people are more interested in sharing incidents ofthe pastand debate onissueslike sectarianism,` he said.

Alif Ailaan`s Saman Naz said her organisation has been worl(ing towards compiling correct information on the education sectorandhas prepared areportoneducational indicators and compared them across the country.