Up To 2009, Only 12 Out Of 12,000 Rural Schools Had Received an Internet Connotation
<p style="text-align:justify">The AGN detected this by analyzing the performance of Educ.ar, the initiative of the Ministry of Education to facilitate the transmission of content. "The lack of a plan for improvements is evident," the report says. What impact the investment of the technology portal had is unknown, as well as the control of those funds. </p>
The Ministry of Education has an initiative to achieve inclusion and facilitate the exchange of content within the school system in Argentina by using the internet. Educ.ar is a society of the State, and aside from creating a website with information for teachers and students, it is intended to provide connectivity to schools. But according to a report by the General Audit Office (AGN, for its acronym in Spanish), between 2003 and 2009 only the provision of broadband service to 12 rural schools on a universe of 12,000 was achieved.
Beyond performance, the AGN stated that "there is no evidence that this contract (which gave 12 schools an internet connection) is a part of a comprehensive plan for the provision of connectivity, nor is there a person in charge of this activity that would allow an inclusion of the web site’s available resources, such as training, support in the assembly of content and participation mechanisms in network integration." Also, it was impossible to find data supporting the selection of the 12 participating schools, or technical reports on the implementation of the connection and service quality.
With these findings, the federal watchdog approved its work late last year and concluded that in Educ.ar the "lack of a plan to establish connectivity improvements over time are evident."
About the Portal
Moreover, the audit examined the www.educ.gov.ar web site and noted that the site has no search engine; diffusion is "reduced" because it lacks different language versions; does not work with WAP protocol which is used to connect with a mobile device; it does not operate under the platform of interactive digital television; lacks a hit counter; doesn’t target audiences with specific content for students and teachers; and does not allow online transactions.
The Company
Educ.ar was born in 2000 through Decree 283, and, due to the volume of content, it was a pioneering venture in Latin America. The AGN analyzed the functioning of the unit from the control objectives set by international standards COBIT, related, more precisely to information technology (IT).
According to COBIT standards, it’s necessary for the organism in question to implement a process to ensure that its annual budget is established and approved with short and long term plans.
Although the premise may seem obvious, the auditors noted that in the case of Educ.ar "no evidence of implementation of any methodology to get the detail of expenses for each project, operating system, and product was obtained." In addition, the audit could not access the results of IT investment quantitatively and, therefore, could not control the funds for the initiative.
As an example, research points out that between 2006 and 2008, spending on IT Educ.ar increased 262% due to the creation of the Encuentro channel, but "no knowledge of technical and economic studies to justify the increase had been presented, nor the existence of procedures to analyze the costs of services in information technology. "
Internal Control
The AGN adds that since June 2007, when the organic structure Educ.ar was approved until November 2009, only one internal audit report on the management of IT was performed. It was a recycling workshop and was carried out by the Internal Audit Unit of the Ministry of Education. On this unit, technicians said they "did not have the specialized personnel" to oversee matters related to IT, which reduces the capacity of dependence’s internal control.
