FEES MANAGEMENT SYSTEM COUPLED WITH E-MAIL AND MOBILE MESSAGING TECHNOLOGY

Case Project: Maryhill High School

BY

MUZOORA SAVIOR

MASTER OF SCIENCE IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS
FACULTY OF SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Email:lunsavioz@hotmail.com
Tel: 0753404044 / 0774922487

A Concept Paper Leading to a Project Proposal
Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment for the Award of the
Degree of Master of Science in Information Systems of
Uganda Martyrs University

August 2013

Introduction

The domain of this project is Information Systems and the sub domain is Management Information Systems (MIS). Laudon (2012) defines MIS as the study of computer-based information systems in business and management. MIS provide reports on the organization’s performance.

This project will result into a Fees Management System (FMS), coupled with E-mail and mobile messaging technology. FMS for Maryhill High School will serve administrators with reports about students’ fees collection. It will also provide parents and guardians with reports about students’ invoices, payments and balances through E-mail and mobile messages.

Background

Maryhill High School is located at Nyamitanga hill, Mbarara district. At present, the school’s enrollment is at about 1500 students.
The school generates revenue from students’ fees, therefore all students are required to pay school fees. Students pay for Tuition, PTA Maintenance, Development Fund, and Entertainment. At the end of the term, each student is given a fees bill and bank slip. As a policy all payments are made through banks. A student can either pay the full invoice amount or pay instalments. After payment, the student returns the school copy of the bank slip to the bursars for recording. The bursars then prepare a receipt for the student. The receipt does not show the student’s balance or overpayment. To get this information, a student fills a balance request form, and then takes it to the bursar’s office. The bursars compute the student’s balance and write it on the same form, then return the form to the student.
This system faces several challenges, including delays to update student ledgers, delays to inform parents when payments are made, inconsistence on track of student balances and overpayments, telephone and transport costs incurred by parents who make balance inquiries, as well as long queues at the bursar’s office, of students with balance queries.

Problem Statement

Maryhill High School is currently using pen and paper system to record students’ fees transactions. The major challenges with this system are delays to update student ledgers, delays to inform parents when payments are made, inconsistence on track of student balances and overpayments, telephone and transport costs incurred by parents who make balance inquiries, as well as long queues at the bursar’s office.
In order to overcome the challenges above, a software tool will be designed to manage students’ fees as well as send summarised reports to parents using E-mail and mobile text messages.
1. Main Objective
The main objective is to enable the school bursars to effectively manage students’ fees and to provide accurate reports to parents, thus reducing the time taken and costs incurred in making balance inquiries.

Specific Objectives

1. To review the existing system that is used to manage students school fees 2. To design a Fees Management System with E-mail and mobile messaging functionality 3. To implement the system 4. To test the system.

Scope

The System will be customized for Maryhill High School. Functionalities of the system will include user authentication, entry of invoice amounts on class basis, individual student invoicing, generation of fees bills, entry of students’ payments, generation of payment receipts, E-mail and mobile message reporting, and update of student ledgers.

2. Significance
The software tool will assist bursars to manage students’ fees records and to send accurate reports to parents through E-mail and mobile messages. By providing regular updates to the parents about their children’s fees status, it will reduce the time spent and the costs incurred by parents to make balance inquiries. Furthermore, administrators will be able to receive reports about school fees collections at any time.

Bibliography

1. Chaffey, D. & Wood, S., 2005, Business Information Management: Improving Performance using Information Systems. Prentice Hall. 2. Shelly, G.B. & Vermaat, M.E. 2011, Discovering Computers 2011: Living in a Digital World. USA. 3. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), July 2012. Basic Education Sector Analysis Report. Kampala, Uganda. 4. Ministry Of Education And Sports Uganda, August 2001 Development of Education in Uganda in the last ten years. Kampala, Uganda.

References

1. Laudon, K.C. & Laudon, J.P., 2012. Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 12th Ed. Prentice Hall. 2. Aker, J.C & Mbiti, I.M., 2010. Mobile Pones and Economic Development in Africa. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24(3), pp 207 – 232. 3. Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2012. 2012 Statistical Abstract. Kampala, Uganda.