NDUBUISI UMEBIE
The national office of the At-Risk Children Program (ARC-P), has held a 3-day Management Information System (MIS) workshop for all state lead/focal persons alongside their program officers at Abuja, the nation’s capital.
According to Hajia Maryam Uwais, the ARC-P National Programs Coordinator, during her opening address pointed out that the objective of the workshop was to put everyone through a hands-on practical aspect of the program and to enhance the Management Information System.
Said she, “the MIS tool’s pertinence in ARC-P cannot be over-emphasized as it is a tool that will assist tremendously because the program needs urgent and timely feedbacks from the states. There is need for the incorporation of a working information system such as the MIS tool which will help to disseminate feedback from the states as fast as possible.”
” It has been observed that the state teams/facilitators struggle with reporting their activities for the various pillars and those who tried, did so on only one or two pillars when the rule is to report at least a minimum of three pillars”.
” ARC-P was set up for mostly out of School children and youths; part of the contributing factors for children and youths being out of school is lack of funds and if we can be able to get these children and youths back to school then the sole aim of this innovation will be achieved and how do we do that if there is no information system to rely on.”
Furthermore, Hajia Uwais challenged every state ARC-P office to open a well-equipped IT office and officers that would help with the management of the information system. She urged States to keep the spirit going given the fact that the workshop was just an addition to strengthening what the States have been doing and the need for information communication hubs for every State.
Mrs. Grace Obi Ukpabi in her presentation talked about how teachers in various schools would help a lot in the system which was why there was need for a manual that would be used as a lecture guide for the facilitators and each State will get a copy and reproduce. She also said that the programme had introduced the services/supports of Community Health Inspectors (CHIPs).
She further hinted that money received from the programme was not ‘a free money’ but must be channeled rightly. She also elaborated on the MIS and the need to utilize it for the growth of the Programme.
Speaking on the overview of ARC-P MIS, Mr. Francis Onuh said that structurally, the MIS would be of immense help and great importance to report virtually all aspects of the program which included but not limited to the following; Facilitator On-boarding, Operational management, Child On-boarding, Child assessment, Child attendance, Reporting and User management.
The Anambra State Lead/Focal Person of ARC-P, Mr. Alban Anonyuo while speaking on the sidelines of the workshop noted that it aimed at preparing the state officers for effectiveness, efficiency and timeliness in program implementation, facilitation, data collection and real-time reporting of the program’s activities in the states.
Mr. Anonyuo appreciated the national office and Program Coordinator, Hajia Uwais for always churning out great initiatives that would solve the At-Risk Children problems in the country.
Earlier, Mrs. Bimbola Adesanmi explained the three key pillars of ARC-P to the participants to include: Agriculture, Basic Literacy and Numeracy and stressed that others were based on demand.