1. Which type of records do you rely on most in your school?
Actually, there is no specific record I rely on most. All the school records are important and their usage depends on the need. If I need information about students, I used students attendance registers. If I need data about staff attendance, I used the staff attendance analyses. If I am working on the school budget, I used the financial records. In a nutshell, effective school administration depend on all the school records. it would be difficult to pinpoint a single record that is mostly needed.
2. How do these records help you make decisions, plan activities, or report to stakeholders like MOBSE or your community?
The records we keep in the school help us to have accurate information about the school. Whatever we are doing in the school, we need records as reference. For instance, if you are budgeting for your school interhouse event, you can refer to the budget of the previous year and you either adopt it or make some amendments if necessary. If you are filling the annual school census form, you need all student registers. So, record keeping helps us with accurate and reliable information for planning and decision-making.
3. Have you faced challenges in organising or protecting school records - especially in rural or resource-limited settings?
Yes of course, in many schools in rural Gambia, proper files and filing systems are lacking. In some cases, I would have to improvise and improvisation is the root cause of most of the issues about record keeping. In addition, many schools in The Gambia do not have very secure lockers for safe keeping of school records.
4. With tools like SEMIS now being introduced, how do you see digital-record keeping changing your work as a school leader?
Tools like SEMIS are just for the sector, but they do not relieve us of any record keeping. The school would continue to keep and mark student attendance registers, as well as record the daily attendance for every class. So, the SEMIS and other digital tools are adding more workload for the teachers but not making it easier. In addition, schools are not provided with servers to be able to have access to all the information they are sending through digital means.
5. What best practices would you recommend to other headteachers for improving transparency, accountability, and service delivery through records management.
Keep records promptly, analyse the records periodically and use information in planning and decision making. Ensure information is shared timely with the relevant stakeholders.