1.0 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The quest for education and knowledge has gained a great momentum and thanks to technology. It has given education a boost, from online admission application system to online lecturing system, technology is virtually seen in the corners of education. Education encompasses our lives and it has formed the foundation of our society. Education helps to stimulate our minds and mold inquisitive minds into intellectuals. Higher learning takes the intellect to the next level, providing a deeper understanding of the world around us.
Admission seeking through application is a process all prospective students must undergo. This process has been manned by manual process despite the digitalized process of student application. This research intends to automate this process of admitting students via the automation and simulation of the standard admission rules of federal unity colleges.
Admission is the process of being taken into a programme only after one has qualified by having above the minimum requirement. According to Microsoft® Encarta® 2009 © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation, (Encarta dictionary), it is the process of “right, ability, or permission to enter a place or an organization or institution.” The ‘right’ in terms of student admission is the fulfillment of the minimum educational qualifications amongst other requirements.
Federal unity colleges are owned and established by the Federal Government of Nigeria. After the Nigeria civil war in the year 1967, the 3 Rs – Reconciliation, Restoration and Renovation was introduced by Gen. Yakubu Gowon was to foster unity in a notion that her unity has been scarified on the altar of war. This led to the establishment of federal unity colleges in the then 12 states of the nation. Initially, it was established in the four cardinal points of Nigeria which are “Federal Government College Sokoto (North), Federal Government College, Warri (South), Federal Government College Odogbolu(West) and Federal Government College, Enugu (East). As reported by Nigerian Best Forum in the news by Fortune on June 22, 2009 and written by Andrew, Gen. Gowon said now has 104 unity colleges”. (http://www.nigerianbestforum.com/generaltopics/why-i-established-unity-schools-gowon/, accessed on 27/11/15)
Pupils who successfully completed their primary schools are only admitted into any of the unity school in Nigeria upon the success recorded in the NECO’s (National Examination Council) National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE). This examination is taken nationwide and in some foreign countries at a stipulated date and the best pupils are selected from each state of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) according to the cut off mark but this time not a uniform cut off mark due to the intelligence differences in the Nation’s State. “The national cut off mark to any of the unity schools is 68”, http://ncee.assure.com.ng/sample-page/, accessed 27/11/2015.
Digitalization is making life simpler and more interesting. Computers are seen in diverse areas of human life. From sleeping to eating, from exercise to working, technology has become human companion, education is not left out.
Education as a best legacy given to individuals helps to stimulate our minds and create inquisitive minds into intellectuals. It helps us to learn more about our life and world. Every education icon wishes to make education in his or her watch greener through the incorporation of technology. Hence, many started from online application, computer based test (CBT) and publishing of admitted students names on the internet but little has adopted the online admission system that will automate the admission rules and standard guidelines of admission.
The present admission process into federal unity colleges is manual but the application process has been digitalized by the body coordinating and conducting the national common entrance examination, NECO. Applicants purchase the form inform of a card that gives they the gateway to filling the online form on http://www.mynecoexams.com/ncee/ after the card’s pin and serial number has been validated. Only final year pupils of primary schools are eligible to purchase this card/form for admission into Junior Secondary School 1 of the federal unity colleges/schools. Other classes of the unity schools are done through transfer.
A system as a set of hardware, software (principles, rules and procedures) and people that works in union to achieve a common goal makes up life of which information technology is not excluded. An online student admission system in this context is a model of a system that will automate the minimum required rules for fulfillment ere admittance of a prospective student by the body/authority concerned. This system will downsize the delay caused by humans due to the large number of application received as well as set a limit to the numbers of application for each course like a seat reservation system.
Decisions made are a lot in this system so as to avoid the issue of conflict. Before decisions are made, submitted documents are verified through external link to the body’s result checker website to query their database and verify the truth or falsity of such submission. That is, after the national common entrance examination, the score of candidates who to a particular unity schoolwill be validated from NECO’s website for the exam (http://www.mynecoexams.com/ncee/) to ensure the truth or otherwise of the score provided by the applicant.
Decision made in this system as in other systems are principally grounded on principles and experiences in human but built as intelligence into computer system. Due to the speed and efficiency of computers, they are good companion for decision making and planning of business activities. This is supported through the use of management information systems and decision support systems.
System employs methods (rules), processes/procedure and machine readable measures. These are to convert data/information fields that will enforce the rules that the system has been programmed for. This is why system can use the input supplied by a user to achieve a result like in the case of authentication, verification and decision making.
1.1 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Any manual system is occasioned with a lot of deficiency and set back. The manual system of admission has a lot of deficiencies, ranging from delay to favoritism in admitting students. In this digitalize world where people and technocrats are advocating for paperless society, manual admission system will only upsurge the paper work. Prospective students are notified with the paper means by publishing their names on the school notice boardand this in turn does not promote privacy as everyone sees the notice board as against when it is uploaded for you only via your application page/portal.
In a nutshell, the problems of the manual admission system are:
1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
Online student admission system is aimed at automating the admission process of federal unity colleges in Nigeria with the following objective:
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Education is vital to individual hence the process of admitting students should be true whereby the duly merited individuals will get admitted, not the unmeritedvia favouritism. This system deals with the issue of admission corruptions and enables the square pegs to be in square holes.
The centralized database is a stoppage to the loss of data and duplication of data which is data irregularities. This will also help in proper preservation of applicants data against the paper based method that after a period the paper gets decay and might even be burnt.
1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Studentship encompasses the stages of learning from the nursery till the post graduated level in the formal context and the stages of apprenticeship in the informal context. The range of studentship is broad; hence this research is limited to prospective pupils of Nigeria’s unity schools that have completed their primary education and have passed the NECC. This system does not include the tertiary education or the basic education system in Nigeria.