Tunisian training agency improves data visibility with EDLIGO and Microsoft products

Looking for greater visibility over training program outcomes

The Ministry of Vocational Training and Employment, established in 1990, provides continual training for students, increasing their skills and combating unemployment. The public agency, in collaboration with the Tunisian Vocational Training Center, set up a six-year certification program with Microsoft Imagine Academy to cover 40,000 exam vouchers per year for around 15,000 students from 68 vocational training centers.

Microsoft Imagine Academy is a full curriculum solution for teaching data science, IT administration, and other technology skills. Program membership is open to all education institutions that qualify for Microsoft Volume Licensing academic agreements.

“We have been using Microsoft Imagine Academy for five years now,” said Chawki Laadhiri, Director of the Organization of Methods and IT Department. “Overall, we were satisfied with the program, as it has been equipping our trainees with the required skills for better employment; however, we had very limited visibility.”

Turning data into insights

To reinforce and strengthen its program, the Ministry of Vocational Training and Employment adopted EDLIGO, software created by EDUCATION4SIGHT to deliver real-time analytics, insights, and recommendations. EDUCATION4SIGHT, headquartered in Germany, specializes in AI-based education data analytics. Its EDLIGO platform, based on Microsoft Azure, empowers policy makers and educators with AI-based analytics that improve planning, decision-making, and training outcomes.

EDLIGO gave the Ministry of Vocational Training and Employment a global view of student data, training data, and exam data, along with analytical models. Advanced analysis covering the entire learning and training cycle was distilled with Microsoft Power BI visualizations and reporting, along with predictive and prescriptive analytics from Azure Machine Learning.

Microsoft technology facilitates development

Azure Machine Learning assists EDLIGO with its robust environment for the development of machine learning solutions. EDLIGO applies advanced analytics and a wide range of supported algorithms to help vocational trainers devise real-time predictions or forecasts. Moreover, it helps vocational trainers analyze exam data and interpret results on trainees' progress, as well as training center-level results, personnel factors, and performance management. EDLIGO executes Azure Machine Learning development through easy and flexible building interfaces, allowing leaders and trainers to see the learning path of each trainee, his or her predicted scores, and the next recommended action.

EDLIGO and Power BI yield rich and personalized dashboards showing student trajectory and helping identify at-risk or high-achieving trainees who required special attention.

“EDLIGO helped us closely monitor the proper assimilation of programs, evaluations, enrichment, and corrective measures, like early detection of trainees at risk and proactively identifying students needing additional support in order to better results through better education enabled by AI, such as student learning paths," Laadhiri said.

For user authentication, EDLIGO uses Office 365 single sign-on. This lets students and staff access programs and applications with one entry of their login credentials and control access to sensitive information. With single sign-on enabled, vocational training stakeholders and trainers can instantly be connected to EDLIGO simply by logging in with Office 365.

Delivering better information to decision makers

“The EDLIGO platform powered by Azure helped us to secure our sensitive data, like enrollment records, attendance, and assessment scores and results, and to establish the link between various sources of information around Microsoft Imagine Academy programs. We were able to analyze the data and deduce a clear vision, allowing us to enhance our decision-making and reporting by 60 percent,” Laadhiri said.

Now the Ministry of Vocational Training and Employment can help key stakeholders –  including 10 decision makers in the ministry and 17 trainers in the governorates –  address their challenges by improving the quality of learning and training in 68 centers through evaluation, benchmarking, and strategies.

“With EDLIGO, we were able to monitor the program and deliver to decision makers the far-improved and appropriate level of information by seeing the total number of training centers attempting certification – which is 41 out of 68 centers – by knowing exactly the total number of trainees attempting certification – 13,057 – and by the capturing the indicators of success rate and failure rate of the programs,” Laadhiri said. “This is key to making informed decisions at the highest level.”