Edurio

The basic idea for Edurio - using data sets to improve education - was quick but it took six years to realise. A first attempt in 2008 was a “massive failure” but a very useful one and when the team approached educational data for a second time in 2014 they had a clear idea of how to proceed.

“Schools are going through a lot of changes right now. For systems to change, the schools need to own the improvement. The ability for leaders to make decisions in their schools is key and to do that they need data that measures the right things – not just grades. The data needs to be accessible and understandable. What we've done with Edurio is build a system that collects feedback from students, parents and teachers. They select their priorities, measure those things, collect the data and use a methodology to plan improvement actions,” says Ernests.

Typically Edurio works with networks of schools, with Latvia, the United Kingdom and South Africa all important markets at the moment. Seeing the conditions under which some South African schools operate and the changes accurate data can enable has been an eye-opening experience that hs give “a very good realisation of how important school leadership is regardless of geographical location."