Punjab launches app to monitor 60,015 schools

The Punjab School Education Department has launched a School Monitoring App that it says will bring 60,015 schools across the province under a single digital monitoring system.

According to the department, the application will let authorised staff track students' learning outcomes, teachers' classroom performance and the condition of school buildings, along with data on enrolment and the number of classrooms available at each school. The department said the app replaces separate, fragmented monitoring arrangements with one system built to support decisions based on data.

The platform combines monitoring functions for three organisations: the School Education Department, the Punjab Education Initiatives Management Authority (PEIMA) and the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF). TechJuice and ProPakistani both reported the launch.

Users log in with their CNIC and a password, select the schools assigned to them, and open sections covering student assessments, teaching observations and infrastructure conditions, the department said. Access is limited to authorised users and to the schools they are assigned.

The department said it expects the system to improve transparency, strengthen oversight of schools and help authorities identify areas of Punjab's education system that need improvement.

The reports did not say what the app cost, who built it, when it would be fully rolled out, or whether it will replace physical inspection visits. Those details were not in the material the department released describing the launch.

Monitoring of Punjab's schools has until now been handled separately by the department's own staff and by the other two bodies whose functions the app folds into one login. That meant school staff could be checked by more than one set of monitors under more than one reporting format.

It was also not clear whether data gathered through the app will be published, or whether findings for an individual school will be visible to parents. The department presented the app as a monitoring tool for officials.

The figure of 60,015 refers to schools counted in the scheme. The department did not say how many of them are currently functional, how often each will be monitored through the app, or what happens to schools where the monitoring data shows problems.