2024-08-27 17:00:29
The MES prohibits the use of electronic diaries in schools by external providers such as “School”, “AdminPlus”, etc. This is indicated in changes proposed on the official website of the department. According to the documentation and information regulation, schools can use their chosen software products to keep electronic diaries until the end of the 2024/25 school year, after which they must use only the resources of NEISPUO – the National Electronic Information System for Pre-school and School Education.
The system in question became operational in January 2022. It contains all the information about the education system – from the number of students in schools to their absences, the regulations for teachers, etc. The information from the e-diaries to which all schools switched also goes to NEISPUO. When it was introduced, the Ministry of Education and Culture explained that the system allows the e-diaries implemented in it to be free for schools, instead of paying for external providers to maintain their e-diaries. However, he had the right to choose which e-diary to use – NEISPUO, or “School”, for example, while with the proposed amendments to the regulation, this possibility will disappear from the next school year.
Teachers and principals have repeatedly complained about the system, which is cumbersome and prone to errors. Criticisms about its functionalities are also regularly around the beginning of the school year, when principals have to submit a huge amount of information.
“Most of the schools we outsource have trained our teachers on how to use their electronic diaries. If we move to NEISPUO, it will require new training for a completely different system – it’s like working at Google, but having to go of Microsoft”, Diyan Stamatov, chairman of the Union of Employers in the Public Education System, commented to “Sega”. In his words, the proposal of the Ministry of Education and Culture is actually for a complete monopoly, which will return the processes in education years ago – to the era of paper diaries, when everything was uniform everywhere. He stated that if the ordinance changes are adopted, the directors will comply with them, but they will exacerbate the problems rather than solve them. “We still haven’t found out who is behind this system, we don’t know who to contact in case of a problem. When we write in the problem section, we get a response after 1-2-3 weeks,” he pointed out. Stamatov admitted that teachers ironically call the system “Nothing”, and that free e-journals for schools do not mean free e-journals at all – the maintenance of the system is paid for by the Ministry of Education and Culture anyway.
Reactions from parents and teachers on social media have been similar. “But of course. The MONOPOLY must be complete. And the connection between the school and the family – one-way. Autonomy of the schools, but another time. If this regulation comes into force, they will not have the right to an elementary choice for a platform. Even those who wish to conduct a normal dialogue with parents, they will no longer be able to do so,” wrote parent Irina Manusheva. “An all-wood system is AWESOME! I can’t think of a single advantage! The disadvantages, however, are many,” says a parent. Another stated that he supports the idea of all schools using one platform because it is “absurd for the state to spend over ten million to develop NEISPUO, and then for schools to pay tens of millions more from the state budget to subscribe to duplicative services from the private sector.” And he thinks, however, that NEISPUO is a “big tree” and that even math high school students would have made a better system.
NEISPOU was developed by the “National Systems” consortium, which won a public order for BGN 5.5 million. It is made up of five companies – “Contrax”, “Siela Norma”, “Technical University – Sofia”, “Digital and Software Solutions” and “Adminsoft “