Administrative informatics in schools: the Northern Ireland CLASS project

Citation

McMullan T & Gardner J (1992) Administrative informatics in schools: the Northern Ireland CLASS project. Education and Computing, 8 (1-2), pp. 89-95. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-9287%2892%2980016-5

Abstract
This paper examines the policy and strategy issues presented by a programme to computerize the administration of all post-primary schools in Northern Ireland. Costing more than £10 million, the Computerised Local Administration System for Schools (class) initiative will cover almost 250 schools and will contribute to a government policy which is designed to give them financial and administrative management autonomy. On the teaching and learning side, with national curriculum legislation now in place, class is designed to provide tools for curriculum organization and optimization and also to provide the mechanisms for the statutory assessment and reporting requirements. In presenting this paper the authors seek to examine the rôle of computers in school administration and the manner in which administrative hardware and software is likely to develop in the future.

Keywords
schools; administration; management information; informatics; local management of schools; education reform

Journal
Education and Computing: Volume 8, Issue 1-2