Manila: Efficient and effective operation of public school systems is a challenge for governments around the world. Many struggle to establish transparent performance monitoring systems that allow citizens to hold school officials and governments accountable for performance. The public school system in the Philippines is no exception.

The World Bank Institute's (WBI's) long-time partner, the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in East Asia and the Pacific (ANSA-EAP) recently launched the "Checkmyschool.org" project to promote citizen participation in monitoring school performance. By simply clicking on a particular school on the GPS (Global Positioning System) map, citizens can obtain information about specific aspects of school performance - including number of teachers, condition of facilities, student achievements, status of nutritional health programs, and more.

The information is fed into the geo-referencing database by local school monitors who send in real-time data via their cell phones using SMS text messaging.  The initiative is a partnership of ANSA-EAP, the Filippino Ministry of Education, and Google.

Some 8,000 public schools in the Philippines are currently on the site, and the number is expected to grow quickly in the coming months.  

*  For more information on WBI's work on Social Accountability and its partnership with ANSA East Asia Pacific, go here Or contact: Mary McNeil (mmcneil@worldbank.org)