SELF-HELP GUIDEUDISE-DCF

SCHOOL LEVEL

DISTRICT LEVEL

STATE LEVEL

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Self-Help Guide for U-DISE

SCHOOL LEVEL

School is the source of all education data.

Self-Help Guide : UDISE-DCF

School LevelInformation system/records at school level The school maintains updated records (physical and in some cases electronic) to captureinformation about students, teachers, infrastructure and management of the school.

This information is used for various school level planning activities such as SchoolDevelopment/Improvement Plans (SIP) and under the centrally sponsored schemessuch as SSA, MDM, RMSA etc.

Updated records also help in reporting to the cluster, block, district or state officeswith accurate information in a timely manner.

Updated information is also useful for meetings by the School ManagementCommittee (SMC), School Management and Development Committee (SMDC) orParent Teacher Association (PTA) to take decisions for the school.

The Data Capture Format (DCF) for U-DISE also seeks information from thesevarious records and helps in integrating a lot of information into one format.

The details on filling-up the DCF and submission is provided below

Teachers/staff who have undergone some form of training in the current orprevious years in filling-up the DCF form should be assigned this activity.

Before you set-out to fill the form, keep all the relevant records (handy with you)such as student’s admission/attendance register for student enrolment relatedinformation, staff registers for teacher related information etc.

Step 1: Filling-up the Data Capture Format (DCF)

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Attention: If no one in the school has undergone training, 2-3 senior

teachers can be assigned this responsibility.

First, check all the pre-printed sections of the DCF (such as year of establishment,location of the school etc.) for accuracy.

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Attention: In case of any mistakes in the pre-printed sections, highlight the

changes/corrections using a red pen.

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For the enrolment by age data, provide the age of students as on 30th September.

If you don’t have information on any particular data field (such as the year ofestablishment, year of up-gradation Latitude/Longitude etc.) then contact theSMC/SMDC members, cluster, block or district office to obtain it from therecords maintained there. Make a note of the source of this information in theDCF.

To identify Children With Special Needs (CWSN), refer to the

Tip: If you have received specific guidelines from the state for the current year, then refer to those forfilling up appropriate codes etc. Else, refer to

Tip: Provide updated contact details of the school including mobile number(s) of head teacher and

/or senior teacher involved in this activity.

Guidelines for filling DCF

instructions/guidelines for filling-up the DCF.

The review of the DCF is to be carried out by any staff member other than the onewho has filled the form.

Head Teacher (HT) or school in-charge to do a final review and sign off the formfor submission to cluster block or district (as per instruction) for data entry.

published by NUEPA .

Attention: In case of any doubt or lack of clarity, seek help from your cluster,

block or district officers and provide accurate information.

Step 2: Review of the DCF and submission

identification of CWSN.Guidelines for

Fill-in the blank sections of the DCF using relevant school records and as per the4

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checklistsuggested Tip: HTs can use a

to review the form.

Tip: Keep a copy of final DCF

submitted at the school.

Self-Help Guide | School

Available at www.dise.in 2

Step 4: Post-data entry review

Step 5: Use of U-DISE data

Some clarification or information may be sought from you during data entry at theblock or the district office.

Attention: Extend all support and cooperate with your block, district office to

provide any missing information or clarification.

Attention: For frequently updated

information such as attendance,

use updated school records.

Seek your own school report card from block/district office.

Review the school report card. If you spot any mistake or inaccurate informationthen send it back to block/district office within 3-4 days with the corrections.

Good practice: A good school displays

information that is useful for community

members, parents, teachers and students at

appropriate places in school premises.

www.schoolreportcards.in

The school report card and the filled-in DCF integrates data from various schoolrecords and presents it in a format that is handy and for ready reference.

It can be used to provide data which is unlikely to change within that year (such asinfrastructure etc.) as sought by block, district, state officers, or other departments.

Tip: You can check your school report card at

years and highlight any errors to district office for correction. for current and previous

Step 3: Clarification and support during data entry at block/ district office

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Self-Help Guide | School

Available at www.dise.in3

Self-Help Guide for U-DISE

DISTRICT & SUB-DISTRICT LEVEL

District is the critical link between

schools and the State.

Self-Help Guide : UDISE-DCF

Preparation for data collection through Data Capture Format (DCF)of U-DISE

Step 1: Preparation for training of BRCs, CRCs, School HTs

Every district should maintain a master list of all schools (government, private unaided,aided, recognized, unrecognized) along with their U-DISE codes.

Update the master list regularly based on recent information received from block andcluster offices. This is important as there may be schools which have been closed,combined or merged into one or a new school may have opened during the year.

SSA and RMSA should work together to ensure that the unified system of U-DISE ('U' here

stands for 'Unified' elementary and secondary schools) is effectively captured for all schools.

Attention: As per MHRD’s directions in letter dated staff appointed underSeptember 18, 2012

Attention: If you notice that there is a change in the U-DISE code of the school due to change

in village boundary etc. bring this to the notice of all concerned up to the school level.

Develop a calendar of activities with timelines for your district and share with theBlock Resource Centre Coordinator (BRCC), Cluster Resource Centre Coordinator(CRCC). Adherence to the timelines is critical to the success of the process.

Make a list of common errors made byschools while filling up the DCF. You canget this information by looking at previousyears’ U-DISE data and report of the

Tip: This list may be provided to theschools as a reference check while they are filling the DCF.

5% Sample Check.

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Organise and co-ordinate trainings in the district as per instructions and guidelinesfrom the state. This will require communication to schools, arranging logistics andcirculation of training materials such as DCF and guidelines to fill it.

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District & Sub-district Level

Distribute the DCF to all the schools.

The schools covered in previous year(s) to be given a pre-printed DCF where as newschools to be given blank formats. Provide phone number(s) of a contact person(preferably District and Block MIS Coordinator or someone who is fully familiarwith DCF) on the DCF as a helpline for schools to contact in case of anyclarification and guidance in filling up the forms.

Ensure that 100% of all DCFs circulated are returned by the schools as per schedule.

It is the responsibility of the CRC followed by BRC to ensure submission of all schoolforms. Coordinators need to be guided at the time of the training that school visits arerequired to ensure submissions.

Step 2: Distribution of DCF

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Tip: Schools that are joining U-DISE for the first time and schools that have not attended any trainingin the past are more likely to make errors. Pay special attention to these schools. An experienced andtrained head master may be asked to support and mentor participants from new schools.

Step 3: Collection of DCFs from schools

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It is important to take regular backups ofdata during the data entry as it will be ofsignificant help in case the oracle database iscorrupt. The U-DISE software automaticallycreates a backup with date-time stampingwhile exiting from the School DatabaseModule whenever the data is changed.

Tip: Users can also take manual backup on weekly basis. Refer to

for backup andtherestoring data using DUMP file.

User’s manual

Tip: If any school has not submitted the form ontime then CRCCs and BRCCs to be instructed tomake school visits to understand the reasonsand help the school.

Tip: It is advisable to provide more than one contact numbers as there may be many queries fromseveral schools.

Attention: In case a block is unable to

complete submission of DCF from all the

schools despite repeated trying, the district

MIS coordinator needs to take this matter

up to DEO.

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Self-Help Guide | District

Available at www.dise.in 2

CRC Coordinators to check the filled-in DCF for completeness for 100% of theschools covered in their area (including private schools).

BRCCs to undertake scrutiny and internal consistency check for 20% of the DCFs.

District office to undertake scrutiny of 10% schools.

Tip: In case of incomplete DCF or doubt regarding any field then visit the school to match the

information with the school records.

Tip: Look out for schools, blocks that have had issues of data quality and completeness in the past.

Tip: Choose a representative mix of schools – only elementary, integrated school that also has

secondary classes for scrutiny.

Tip: Create a list schools (with schools codes) who have completed and submitted DCFs for checking.

Tip: Apply validation rules, default

values etc. while undertaking data

entry as instructed during the training.

After the scrutiny, all the filled DCFs need to be handed-over to block or districtoffice for data entry.

Data entry of the DCF to be undertaken by the MIS staff employed at the Block ordistrict office.

Monitor the data entry process to ensurethe process is on track and to address anyissues.

Attention: You may outsource the data entry to an external organisation but in the long run

it is advisable to train personnel within the department to undertake this activity. An

external agency is less likely to be responsible for data accuracy and consistency.

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Step 4: Scrutiny of DCFs

Step 5: Data Entry in U-DISE software

Undertake multi-level scrutiny of forms:

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Self-Help Guide | District

Available at www.dise.in

Available at www.dise.in

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Step 6: Compilation, consistency checking and cleaning

In case of any missing information in the formats, BRCC and CRCC to contactschools to get the required information.

Data compilation: In districts where the data entry takes places at Block levelit is important for the District MIS Coordinator to merge all the Block specificdata files into a single district database.

To preview/print pre-defined reports, the data needs to be first compiled usingthe ‘Data Compilation module’ of UDISE software.

Undertake consistency checking of data for your district. This helps in identifyingpossible errors or omissions that could have been made at school or during dataentry. There are several ways of checking this:

Tip: Inform the coordinators about the mistakes

or missing values of the formats.

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Attention: Do not fill missing

information with bogus data.

Attention: The findings of the software need to be checked with the filled-in DCF or if

required with the school.

Run the consistency module in the U-DISE software and address the issueshighlighted by the software.

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Preliminary analysis of school level data can be undertaken for few importantindicators such as Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR), Student Classroom Ratio (SCR),% of girls’ enrolment. This will help to identify outliers which will then needto be verified with the raw data.

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Some basic errors can be spotted by running certain queries such as schoolswith no enrolment, schools without a teacher, schools with no classrooms etc.on the database.

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Time-series reports can be generated to match the number of schools, enrolment,teachers over the last two years to check if there are big variations in numbersthat cannot be justified.

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Data Cleaning: Correct all the errors or outlier data points detected during theconsistency checking process by consulting schools.

Attention: Use other functional data systems maintained by the state which may be updated

more frequently (such as teachers’ employment/salary data) to triangulate information as of

on 30th September of the year collected in U-DISE.

Step 7: Report generation and sharing

School Level: Generate a first draft of School Report Card (SRC) languagebasedon filled-in DCF submitted by schools using U-DISE software and circulate toschools for verification and correction.

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Attention: Principals should receive school report cards in time to rectify inaccuracies and

send the verified and signed SRCs back to district where the errors can be rectified.

District and Sub-district/Block Level: Analyse Block and District level data andpresent to district authorities (BEOs, DEOs and CEOs).

Compare the indicators and other data of the current year with that of the previousyear to understand the trends/outcomes.

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Tip: Check basic information about total number and type of schools, enrolment, teachers etc. and

discuss education indicators in detail during district level meetings and trainings.

Submit your district data to the State office after due checking and all the correctionshave been made at the district level.

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Step 8: Using U-DISE data

Tip: It will be useful for the district office to keep record of disaggregated data of students and

teachers (by age, class, gender, social categories) for reporting.

U-DISE data is useful for reporting to district authorities and other line departmentssuch as department of tribal affairs, health or social welfare which may requirespecific information from education department.

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Self-Help Guide | District

Available at www.dise.in5

U-DISE data is useful for conducting detailed situational analysis of the district.This forms the basis for developing Annual Work Plan and Budgets (AWP&B)for both SSA and RMSA.

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Block Reports Cards could also be generated by Districts and shared with allBlocks.

Good Practice: Districts may explore the possibility of sharing their U-DISE reports on

internet through their state portals.

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Tip: Districts could prepare queries or seek it from the state to develop Planning Tables as required

for the AWP&B.

In addition, districts can prepare and publish analytical and time-series reportsfor monitoring the progress of the district in different aspects. For exampleKolkata Gondia distirct.and

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Self-Help Guide | District

Available at www.dise.in 6

Self-Help Guide for U-DISE

STATE LEVEL

Accurate and complete information

enables the State to strengthen all

schools.

Self-Help Guide : UDISE-DCF

State Level

Preparation for data collection through Data Capture Format (DCF)of U-DISE

Finalisation of DCF and software updates

Finalisation of instructions/guidelines for filling up of DCF (in regionallanguage)

Conduct a meeting with all district MIScoordinators to discuss the DCF for theyear and finalise state specific variables.

Share the finalised state-specific DCF withNUEPA to ensure printing of revised DCFusing U-DISE software in regional languageif required.

Attention: Ensure that the same

variables are used uniformly in all

districts.

Attention: Ensure that the state

appropriate version of the software

is being used by all the districts.

Prepare a calendar of activities specific forthe state and ensure it is made available to allpersons involved at the state and the districtoffices.

Prepare state specific detailed instructions for schools for filling-up the DCF.

Tip: Refer finalised DCF,provided by NUEPA for preparing your ownguidelines.

FAQsandDCF guidelines

Tip: Adapt theprovided by NUEPA to your statecontext.

Calendar of activities

5% SampleCheck Report

Provide a list of school records/documents that are required by school to completethe DCF.

Develop a detailing out responsibilities for different activities

Attention: Refer to theto identify variables with

significant deviations and develop

detailed instructions.

responsibility matrix(especially for data cleaning and review) at different levels and fix accountabilitiesfor conducting the different steps.

Available at www.dise.in1

It is advisable that the states refer tofor training.

This will help in avoiding transmissionloss in cascade mode of training.

NUEPA’s training resources

There are two types of training to be provided:

The focus during the training should on interpretation and clarification of issues anddoubts.

Step 1: Printing of DCFs/ Instructions Manual

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Tip: Ensure that documents printed are legible and that there is enough space for respondents tocorrect and/or fill-in the required information.

Step 2: Organising training

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Preparing and organising materials:Create a repository of training materials(including guidelines, FAQs etc.) whichare specific to your state and make themavailable for the training.

Tip: It is advisable that while developingtraining material for the current year,inputs provided from NUEPA, MHRD,TSG on state U-DISE data of previousyears are considered.

Tip: If required, the state can translateNUEPA’s resources into their regionallanguage and use these materialsduring trainings.

Tip: Instruct the district coordinators to circulate the DCF and guidelines to schools in advance andask schools to prepare a first draft of DCF before the training. Utilise the training to clarify specificdoubts and help in interpretation of certain fields.

Print required number of copies of the DCF and the instruction manual and send toall districts for circulation (if the printing is not done at the district level).

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Technical training to district MIS staff: Undertake a technical/refreshertraining of district MIS staff as DCF usually undergoes some modificationevery year and there are also some updates to the software.

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Training of trainers for filling up of DCF at schools: Instruct the trainers tohighlight the importance of reliable and accurate data from schools for a bettereducation system.

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Self-Help Guide | State

Available at www.dise.in 2

Organise awareness campaigns (in form ofcelebrating U-DISE day (i.e.30th September)/week) to encourage and motivateall schools ‐ especially private schools ‐ to participate in filling the DCF.

This could be complemented by letters from appropriate authorities (schoolboards, state education secretary, District magistrate etc.) to schools to complyand provide information in timely manner.

media campaign (see video),

Conduct action research by visiting some schools to understand the reasons andimpediments that prevent them from completing forms. For example, if privateschools are unwilling to provide specific information on few fields (mainlyfinancial details) they should still be encouraged to provide all other informationon the DCF.

Tip: Students enrolled in DIETS could be motivated to participate in the DCF collection process as it

would give them an opportunity to visit schools and understand how schools records are maintained.

Tip: Ask districts to submit a list of schools that have submitted DCFs and match that with the master

list of schools to check 100% coverage.

Tip: Current year’s information should be

compared with last year to ensure there

are no significant deviations.

Data Completeness: Maintain a comprehensive School Directory/Master list atState. The directory should be updated regularly with inputs from District officeswith every cycle.

Merge all the district data and undertake consistency check through the U-DISEsoftware.

Generate district-wise time-series reporton schools, enrolment, facilities, andteachers.

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Step 3: Support during data collection and entry to ensure completecoverage

Step 4: Review of data quality, completeness and consistency

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Attention: Focus on certain regions (blocks, schools) that have not provided accurate or complete

information in the past years.

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Self-Help Guide | State

Available at www.dise.in3

Step 5: Finalisation and submission

If your state has other data/EMIS systems that are more frequently updated thanU‐DISE (e.g. Samagra Shiksha portal of MP, Teacher’s database of Karnataka)use that to triangulate data.

Present important education indicators such as GER, NER, Drop-out rate, PTR,SCR etc. to key stakeholders/authorities from Department of School education,SSA and RMSA societies in a joint forum to share aggregated information ofthe state level data system and seek feedback.

Undertake corrections based on feedback from stakeholders from state and districtlevel.

Print the Data Submission Certificate from U-DISE software and submit the samealong with the data to NUEPA and MHRD.

Prepare and publish Analytical Reportsafter the finalisation of data.This reportcould then be used as reference throughoutthe year for reporting and sharinginformation related to school education.

Tip: Data of the current year must be compared with that of the previous year for scrutinizing the

trends/outcomes.

Tip: State office should plan to get at least one round of feedback from districts before submission.

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Step 6: Data reporting and sharing

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Tip: It is useful to track key indicators

and show their progress over years.

Good Practice: Publications based on U-DISE are developed in many states such as

etc. which should be made availableonline as well.

Assam, MaharashtraKarnataka, Telangana,

Self-Help Guide | State

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National University of EducationalPlanning and Administration

Address : 17-B, Sri Aurobindo Marg,New Delhi-110016 (INDIA)

Phone : 011 2654 4800Email : www.nuepa.org