Tobias Murray

Tobias is a systems developer, product manager and analyst based in Freetown, Sierra Leone, with a focus on designing, developing and implementing data systems to improve access to and delivery of basic services, particularly within the education sector.

Involved in a variety of projects in Sierra Leone and further afield, he is working closely with the Teaching Service Commission to improve education delivery and teacher management processes. At the forefront of these efforts are the Sierra Leone Education Attendance Monitoring System (SLEAMS) which aims to tackle teacher absenteeism, provide checks on the payroll, and provide real-time data on teachers and deployment; and the Teacher Records Management system which combines payroll data and analysis with digitised teacher personnel records for a comprehensive teacher data platform.

In Ethiopia, Tobias is leading the development of a flexible all-in-one data system for the Ethiopian education system, facilitating data management, collection, integration, analysis and indicators all under one roof, for school data management as well as interventions tracking and efficacy. The system’s flexibility means that end users are able to create and modify their own data structures, linkages, data collection forms and analytics charts all without touching a single line of code. The system is currently managed by Education Development Trust Ethiopia, who expect 700 schools to be covered by the system initially, scaling to 2200 schools, then all schools nationally if the programmes are successful.

As a strong communicator, Tobias also has a long track record in designing and conducting trainings of government counterparts at national and sub-national levels to strengthen capacity in digital systems, as well as interfacing with clients to ensure that both technical and functional needs are met.

Prior to joining CGA in 2019, Tobias completed a 4-year integrated master’s degree in Physics at Oxford University. He also has long-held experience in developing software, having designed, developed and sold his own mobile applications whilst at school and university, and while interning for a software company worked on a cross-platform mobile app for spending addicts to monitor their activity. Having worked as a tutor and teacher in a number of roles for over 4 years, Tobias also has first-hand experience in the education sector.