DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF RESULT PROCESSING AND COURSE REGISTRATION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

There were three fundamentally distinct education systems in Nigeria in 1990: the indigenous system, Quranic schools, and formal European-style education institutions. In the rural areas where the majority lived, children learned the skills of farming and other work, as well as the duties of adulthood, from participation in the community. This process was often supplemented by age-based schools in which groups of young boys were instructed in community responsibilities by mature men. By the 1970s, education experts were asking how the system could be integrated into the more formal schooling of the young, but the question remained unresolved by 1990.  Western-style education came to Nigeria with the missionaries in the mid-nineteenth century. Although the first mission school was founded in 1843 by Methodists, it was the Anglican Church Missionary Society that pushed forward in the early 1850s to found a chain of missions and schools, followed quickly in the late 1850s by the Roman Catholics. In 1887 in what is now southern Nigeria, an education department was founded that began setting curricula requirements and administered grants to the mission societies. By 1914, when north and south were united into one colony, there were fifty-nine government and ninety-one mission primary schools in the south; all eleven secondary schools, except for King's College in Lagos, were run by the missions.

The education system focused strongly on examinations. In 1916 Frederick Lugard, first governor of the unified colony, set up a school inspectorate. Discipline, buildings, and adequacy of teaching staff were to be inspected, but the most points given to a school's performance went to the numbers and rankings of its examination results. This stress on examinations was still used in 1990 to judge educational results and to obtain qualifications for jobs in government and the private sector.

As more information is made available in a variety of formats and media and in a variety of locations, the need to manage information/data efficiently becomes more and more critical. Both staff and public users want access to stored information and want to access it more efficiently. It is the University Policy to improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of course registration and result processing operations and services through the implementation of an integrated automated database System.

1.2 HISTORICAL PROFILE OF INSTITUTE OF OPENCAST         MINING AND TECHNOLOGY

The Institution site is situated at No 2/3 Ediagbonyan Street Ogbeson Quarters Benin City. It is about 3.74 km in area, while the site is easily accessible and near the immediate Oregbeni and Ohobve community in which 60% of the students reside. 

The layout is suitable for the purpose especially when one considers the positioning of the building, the lecture rooms, the library, the staff rooms and the Administrative offices.

The positioning of these facilities allows for proximity and convenience and reduces the amount of time spent in movement.

The building is properly maintained, general sanitation is adequate; the site is free from any industrial or natural omission or any other health hazard.

There is electricity on campus as well as in the nearby Oregbeni Federal Housing Estate and Ohobve Community where some students reside. The Institution has borehole water which makes water available on regular basis. It maintains a mail running services and a private mail bag which serves both the staff and the students in addition to the institution itself.

Institute of Opencast Mining and Technology is a Government Approved Technical/Vocational Institution, a subsidiary of Christian Chemical and Engineering Company (Nigeria) Limited.

The limited liability company was founded and incorporated in Nigeria in 1977.

The institution itself was founded 1978 but became a corporate body or subsidiary of the limited liability company (by special resolution on 17th September 1981.

The institution was established in 1978 as an Independence post Secondary Institution and located at Agenebode and Jattu Town in Etsako Local Government area of Edo State in 1982.

In 1989 there was need to relocate the institution and Benin was the choice based on the advice of the then commissioner for Education Prof. Agnes Uduebo. It was moved to Benin in 1990.

1.3     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Database of information is vital in today’s education with respect to course registration and examination result processing. This has become a very vital issue as students spend so much time trying to know the number of credit units for each semester. This problem has lead to time wasting, inaccuracy of results and even open to fraud. Cases of missing results have been recorded thereby making examination processing more difficult and untimely.

1.4     OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of this study are:

1.     To provide a reliable solution to result processing that is malpractice free.

2.     To ensure that normal credit load in line with the school is maintained.

3.     To provide software that will generate result that is accurate, timely and error free.

1.5   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The project work will help in a good number of ways to ease the delay in manual examination processing. The software developed will help schools management to achieve efficient information management system. There are many other advantages, and some of them are listed below.

1.     It saves time during examination processing

2.     Database for course registration and examination result is maintained

3.     References are very fast and delays can be avoided.

4.     It allows easy access to stored information.

5.     Help in reducing the costs such as labor, inventory and stationary.

6.     Generation of accurate results/information on transactions is sure.

1.6     SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This research work will concentrate on course registration and examination processing system using Institute of Opencast Mining and Technology, Benin City (Computer Science Department) as a case study. The system developed will only cover registration of students, course registration and result processing.

1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS/VARIABLES

Information System: It is a collection of procedures, people,          Instructions and equipment to produce information in a useful form.

Technology: It is study of techniques or process of mobilizing resource   (such as information) for accomplishing objectives that benefits man    and his environment.

Databases: A systematically arranged collection of computer data,          structured so that it can be automatically retrieved or manipulated. It          is also called databank.