The Auditor General has conducted an audit on the overall operational effectiveness of the Information Technology (IT) and Information Systems (IS) currently being used by the Primary and Secondary State schools within the State Colleges.

To date, nine Colleges in Malta and one in Gozo have been established to cater for around 5,600 Kindergarten students, 13,500 Primary School students and 12,800 Secondary students, totalling nearly 32,000 students.

The main aim of this IT Report was to collect and analyse evidence to determine whether State Colleges have in place the necessary controls to ensure that their IT and IS maintain data integrity, safeguard assets, allow organisational goals to be achieved effectively and assist in making efficient use of the Government IT related resources.

The National Audit Office recommended that an IT Strategy for State Schools be drawn up to meet the related objectives highlighted within the National Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Strategy.

Another recommendation referred to the need that the Ministry commissions a study to assess the impact of the increased Internet usage following the introduction of interactive white-boards for future capacity planning. Other recommendations related to software access controls and the management of ICT resources were highlighted in the report.

The National Audit Office noted with satisfaction that overall, all the four software applications reviewed in this IT audit are being managed effectively by the respective users.

The Report also reviewed the operational and security aspects of IT. In this regard, the National Audit Office recommended that State Colleges should continue to invest in the physical and environmental controls in order to provide a more secure environment for the IT related resources within the Primary and Secondary State schools.

The National Audit Office also noted that State Colleges do not have, or refer to, an information classification policy or an information retention and storage policy. Furthermore, the National Audit Office feels that State Colleges should have a formally documented business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) plan at a school level.

Thus, the report suggests that the Ministry should perform a business impact analysis as well as a risk assessment exercise in State Colleges, so that the above plans can be drafted and eventually adopted and followed.

This Report may be accessed through the National Audit Office website (www.nao.gov.mt) as from tomorrow.

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