CSTS Project Inspiring Other States Project Stake

A unique project titled Child / Student Tracking System (CSTS), being implemented by the Department of Education (Primary and Secondary), Government of Karnataka, is turning into a model for other States to emulate. This project is designed, developed and implemented by Ahmedabad-based ICT Infracon and totally sponsored by Infosys Foundation. P Panneervel, CEO of ICT Infracon and a retired Additional Chief Secretary of Government of Gujarat, shared the significance of the project and its objectives, in an interview with Elets News Network (ENN).

How and when was the idea of CSTS conceptualised? What is the signicance of the project? 

P Panneervel, CEO of ICT Infracon and a retired Additional Chief Secretary of Government of Gujarat
P Panneervel, CEO of ICT Infracon and a retired Additional Chief Secretary of Government of Gujarat

In one of the meetings of IIM, Ahmedabad chaired by the then chairman KV Kamath, a question was asked by former Minister of HRD, Government of India, who was part of the meeting that is it possible to track every child in India? Mr Kamath replied yes, recommending my name as he already knew me that I had implemented several eGovernance projects in the Government of Gujarat and all are working successfully even today. The former Minister, who was happy with the positive reply from Mr Kamath, suggested this project can be supported by Infosys Foundation and the first pilot can be done in Karnataka. That is how the idea of CSTS started two years or more ago. This is a very significant project as it connects every child in the country.

 

Project Stakeholders
Project Owner Dept of Education (Primary and Secondary), Govt of Karnataka
Sponsored by Infosys Foundation, Bengaluru
Implementing Agency ICT Infracon LLP, Ahmedabad
Project Cost (Approximate) Rs 5 crore

Right to Education Law has been enacted, but the responsibility to enroll the children who attain the age of five, in the nearest school is left to the parents. The responsibility of enrollment in real sense lies with the State Governments. Despite all the efforts, it is very difficult to ensure 100% enrollment. Dropout rate of India is one of the highest in the world. Perhaps, the CSTS will support the concerned departments in mitigating the challenges faced in dropouts is a handy in not only tracking child but also support the enrollment. The project is also known as District Information System for Education (DISE).

What are the primary objective of the project?

The main objective of the CSTS is to track each and every child in the relevant age group throughout the State through Birth Registration. For example if the goal is to universalize 9 year basic education in the state, the relevant age group children to be tracked in the CSTS is 0-15 considering 6th year as official entry age to grade 1. The CSTS will create a database of all children in the age group of 0-15 years in the state, with the details of each and every child such unique Child Code, his/her name, date of birth, sex, educational status, reason for non-attendance /Out-of- School and data on other related key variables by particular reference period of the year.

The project of Child / Student Tracking System is likely to be an ideal tool for the Government of Karnataka, in implementing Right to Education Law effectively.

Which are the purposes the database of CSTS can be used, if any?

The database generated will enable the state government to identify village/habitation wise children in the relevant age group for enrollment and find out reasons for every out-of-School child in order to design appropriate intervention strategy. Also track academic progress and health records of every child in every school. The database can be used for the following purposes by the concerned authorities.

  • Dropout rate
  • Student Performance record/health record
  • Diagnosing several other aspects of participations and retention of children in basic education
  • State/District/Taluka/Village Wise Student Tracking
  • Monitoring the educational status of every child in terms of never enrolled out of school/vocational Institute/higher & technical

How the support system of the project and its modules were developed?

The system is designed to provide support system that enables government institutes to apply appropriate interventions and deploy required resources (asset management) that provide adequate environment to every child to have their preferred line of education for gainful employment. Finally the project at the state level will lead the State to achieve better “human development index”.

The CSTS is equivalent to an Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP system for a corporate firm. Student tracking system (STS) is also a Web-based application designed to introduce a conducive and structured information exchange environment for integrating students, parent, teachers and administration of a school or college.

Implement the centralized web based application which will be hosted at Central Location. The application can be accessed directly through internet and intranet by using a pre-defined web link. The application can also be accessed through a link within any web site/ system already exists or hosted by any Government Department / School / University. In this case, a specific URL will be communicated to the respective University / College so that they can incorporate the link into their web site/system. Following modules will be in the scope of ICT:

  • Birth Registration/Survey/link between school and village records
  • Students unique id PIN generation to monitor life time academic mobility
  • Attendance Monitoring- Dropout-Link to students ID-PIN List – Parents Status
  • Parent Migration
  • Infant Health/mortality
  • Sibling Care
  • Bring Back dropouts to main stream by special coaching-monitoring
  • Student Academic Records-Promotion, Awards etc
  • School Wise Children Enrolled
  • School Wise Teachers requirement
  • Asset Management
  • Student Health Management
  • List of Students Passed from Primary School/Secondary/Higher Secondary School
  • Mapping of Primary/Secondary/Higher Secondary Schools
  • School Wise Enrollment Data
  • Actual requirement of the Primary/Secondary/Higher Secondary School
  • Mapping of Technical Institute as per government norms
  • Child Labor Abolition
  • Developing MIS and analytics for monitoring the usage and other administrative purposes

What is the current status of the project?

The project has been rolled out all over the State. The system has been installed in State Data Center. Data migration for the year 2014-15 and 2015-16 has been done. Complete data base by name for more than 1 crore children has been created. For the new academic year commencing from June 2016 enrollment in the whole state has been done. All promotions, transfer certificates, academic records and other verifications will be only through this system. The system is designed developed with Women and Child Welfare department to track 0 to 5 yrs. From the academic year 2017-18, the children will be enrolled from Anganwadi to Primary School (First standard). This system will monitor the student welfare schemes, asset management of schools, scheme implementations, attendance etc, online. This system is also linked with Aadhaar.

The project is now a successful. To whom do you give credit to? 

The CSTS is successful because of the valuable inputs and support and cooperation of following officers, including Ajay Seth, IAS, then Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Education (Primary and Secondary), Government of Karnataka, PC Jaffer, IAS, then State Project Officer of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Purushottam Kumar Rao of
the Department.

"Exciting news! Elets Education is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest insights!" Click here!
Be a part of Elets Collaborative Initiatives. Join Us for Upcoming Events and explore business opportunities. Like us on Facebook , connect with us on LinkedIn and follow us on Twitter , Instagram.