A year after publishing a request for proposals for a new student information system -- and two years after the British Columbia government was advised to scrap its current system -- the Ministry of Education announced today ConnectEdBC will replace the current student data system in schools.

The announcement comes eight years after the ministry implemented BCeSIS, the online student data system that currently collects attendance, medical records, and students grades in 56 of the province's 60 school districts, as well as 100 independent and 20 First Nations' schools.

Unlike its predecessor BCeSIS, ConnectEdBC will be available on all web-based platforms including mobile devices, and will be easily accessible for parents, students, and teachers to not only monitor students’ progress but also submit assignments and communicate directly with teachers outside of school.

"The new service will make it far easier for parents to engage in ongoing conversation about their child's progress and for teachers to gain better insights into their students," Education Minister Peter Fassbender said in the release.

"It will also deliver powerful collaboration tools to better engage students in their own learning and help educators share learning strategies and materials with their colleagues across the province."

The new system is designed around Follett Corporation's Aspen Student Information System software, the same software the release says is used to support over one million students in the United States and United Kingdom.

Fujitsu Consulting (Canada) Inc. has signed a 12-year deal with the ministry to host the service using servers in Kelowna with backup servers in Regina. Implementation for ConnectEdBC is set to begin in 2014 and finish by 2016, but in the meantime schools will continue to use BCeSIS.

Linked to just one server, complaints about BCeSIS' speed and frequent shut downs plagued the program since it was introduced in 2005. What was originally supposed to cost $16 million ballooned into a $97 million expense for government to keep the system running.

The ministry says the new program should stay within the current BCeSIS budget of $10 per student, per year, or $9.4 million annually.

The Tyee contacted the BC Teachers Federation, prolific critics of BCeSIS, for a response to the ConnectEdBC, but was told the new system is "not on our radar."

Katie Hyslop reports on education and youth issues for The Tyee Solutions Society. Follow her on Twitter.