A MODEL OF AN ONLINE STUDENT ADMISSION

SYSTEM FOR FEDERAL UNITY COLLEGES

BY

HAMPO, JOHNPAUL ANENECHUKWU

CHUKWUNONSO

A GRADUATE OF COMPUTER SCIENCE,

MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OF DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY,
ABRAKA – NIGERIA

MARCH, 2015

i
 DEDICATION

This research work is dedicated first to Jehovah God and humanity

especially those in computing and ICT, and related fields.

ii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I appreciate and gratefully acknowledge God Almighty for making me who I

am today. Also for the intuition, life, Peace and every good thing God has been

giving me; Lord you’re indeed wonderful.

I salute my relatives, past and present friends (foes inclusive), lecturers back

in school, bosses at past times and opponents for all their support and otherwise.

More thanks to you, my readers. Continue the voyage on this work for better

discoveries.

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 ABSTRACT

Education encompasses our lives and as the foundation of our society, it has
importance that cannot be overlooked at. Student admission momentous role in the
activities of any school because, no students, no school. Inefficient admission
system reduces the number of efficient students in the school due to its speed,
delay and integrity. The numerous benefits of digitalization have made applying
for admission these days to be computerized such that a prospective student uses
the web to apply. But the processes of admitting a student that applied aren’t
digitalized. Those applications are humanly screened and not digitally screen.
Online admission system will not only accept applications from prospective
students but, the received applications will be screened digitally and humanly. The
human screen rules will be automated to enable the digital screening of
applications to know the fulfillment of the requirement by each applicant. This
research system, ONLINE STUDENT ADMISSION SYSTEM FOR FEDERAL
UNITY COLLEGES adopts the Dynamic System Development Methodology
(DSDM) and is designed with VB.net (HTML and ASP.net) and SQL as the
languages for the interface design and the database design respectively. The IDEs
used are Visual Studio 2010 and SQL Server Management Studio 2008 both of
Microsoft Cooperation. Adobe Photoshop CS5 was used for the graphics design.

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 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

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

1
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

2
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

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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 school will 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

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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 board and 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. Ill confidentiality – There is no confidentiality as the panels of

admission personnel might leak out vital and private information.

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 2. Privacy – The admission application papers can be flung by the wind

of nature or human. Hence, the system isn’t private even if it looks

like.

3. Speed – The human efficiency in terms of speed is extremely slow. If

they were to consider every application against the requirements then

one might be forced to say, the snail is faster.

4. Error – Most times, there are errors of mapping the application

number against the application name, hence two different people will

be attached to a slot thereby causing some serious issues. There are

also many other errors that can be seen like misspelt names and wrong

application numbers.

5. Class Range – Due to the inefficiency of human, a class of fifty

students might be over populated at the end of admission process

thereby making learning un-conducive for the students.

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. To design an online system for student admission (into the federal unity

colleges) using Structure Query Language on SQL Server Management

studio for its database and Active Server Pages.net (Hyper Text Markup

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 Language and Visual Basic.net are incorporated) on Visual Studio for its

interface design. This system will enhance:

 Conglomeration of geographically scattered applicants.

 Time reduction in activities handling

 Paperless admission

 Reduced manpower

 Centralized data handling

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

unmerited via 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

7
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.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW
“The process of facilitating knowledge and the transfer of skills, value and

belief is known as education. The transfer of skills, knowledge, habits and so on is

transferred from the educator to the seeker. The transfer of knowledge can take

diverse platform such as storytelling, discussion, teaching, research and so on.

Education has stages and admission into a particular stage must be given. Here

comes the role of the admission personnel. Education is compulsory in most places

up to a certain age, attendance at school often isn't, and a minority of parents

chooses home-schooling, sometimes with the assistance of modern electronic

educational technology (also called e-learning). Education can take place in formal

or informal settings mostly but recently, non-formal is on the recognition

especially in India”. (www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/education, accessed on:

20/10/2015)

Educational technology is prevailing in application for admission and online

learning but has been neglected in the admission process. The admission process is

the most cumbersome and tedious event, because lots of individuals must have

applied for study and these application has to be scrutinized to check the

attainment of the spelt out requirements. This is indeed stressful to human and time

wasting.

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 The automation of admission processing will pave way for greater and

effectual efficiency, lesser paper work which in turns returns lowers cost, a simpler

process of admission with optimum resources and reduction in error of application

data and easy communication.

HISTORY OF FEDERAL UNITY SCHOOLS IN NIGERIA

Schools in Nigerian are either privately owned or public (government)

owned. The government schools are either the state schools or the federal

government colleges (unity schools). After the Nigeria-Biafra civil war which

lasted for 3 years or more, the federal government headed by General Yakubu

Gowon decided to float programmes that will foster the unity of the country via the

campaign of the 3Rs which are Reconciliation, Restoration and Renovation.

Unity schools were first established in Sokoto (Northern Nigeria), Warri

(Southern Nigeria), Enugu (Eastern Nigeria) and Odogbolu (Western Nigeria).

After the visit of General Gowon in 1973 to Sokoto, he decided to expand the unity

schools to all the states of the nation (then it was 12 states) reports

http://www.nigerianbestforum.com/generaltopics/why-i-established-unity-schools-

gowon/, 27/11/15. Now, the unity schools are distributed all over the country and

the list is thus below:

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Table 1: List of Unity Schools in Nigeria

S/N LIST OF FEDERAL UNITY COLLEGES IN STATE

NIGERIA
1. FGC, WUKARI TARABA
2. FGC, JALINGO TARABA
3. FSTC, JALINGO TARABA
4. FGC, AZARE BAUCHI
5. FGGC, BAUCHI BAUCHI
6. FGC, MAIDUGURI BORNO
7. FGGC, MONGUNO BORNO
8. FSTC, LASSA BORNO
9. FGC, BUNI-YADI YOBE
10. FGGC, POTISKUM YOBE
11. FGC, BILLIRI GOMBE
12. FGGC, BAJOGA GOMBE
13. FGC, GANYE ADAMAWA
14. FSTC, MICHIKA ADAMAWA
15. FGGC, YOLA ADAMAWA
16. FGC, ILORIN KWARA
17. FGGC, OMU-ARAN KWARA
18. FGBC, APO-GARKI FCT
19. FGGC, BWARI FCT
20. FGGC, ABAJI FCT
21. FSTC, OROZO FCT
22. FGC, KWALI FCT
23. FGC, ROBOCHI FCT
24. FGC, OTOBI BENUE
25. FGC, VANDEIKYA BENUE
26. FGGC, GBOKO BENUE
27. FSTC, OTUKPO BENUE
28. FGGC, KEANA NASARAWA
29. FGC, KEFFI NASARAWA
30. FSTC, DOMA NASSARAWA
31. FGGC, KABBA KOGI
32. FGC, UGWOLAWO KOGI
33. FGC, MINNA NIGER
34. FGGC, BIDA NIGER
35. FGGC, NEW BUSSA NIGER
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36. FSTC, SHIRORO NIGER
37. FGA, SULEJA NIGER
38. FGC, JOS PLATEAU
39. FGGC, LANGTANG PLATEAU
40. FGC, KADUNA KADUNA
41. FGGC, ZARIA KADUNA
42. FSTC, KAFANCHAN KADUNA
43. FGC, KANO KANO
44. FGGC, MINJIBIR KANO
45. FGGC, GUSAU ZAMFARA
46. FGC, ANKA ZAMFARA
47. FGC, DAURA KATSINA
48. FGGC, GWANDU KATSINA
49. FSTC, DAYI KATSINA
50. FSTC, ZURU KEBBI
51. FGC, BIRNIN-YAURI KEBBI
52. FGGC, KAZAURE JIGAWA
53. FGC, KIYAWA JIGAWA
54. FGGC, TAMBUWAL SOKOTO
55. FGGC, BAKORI SOKOTO
56. FGC, SOKOTO SOKOTO
57. FSC. SOKOTO SOKOTO
58. FGC, ENUGU ENUGU
59. FGGC, LEJJA ENUGU
60. FGC, NISE ANAMBRA
61. FGGC, ONITSHA ANAMBRA
62. FSTC, AWKA ANAMBRA
63. FGC, OHAFIA ABIA
64. FGGC, UMUAHIA ABIA
65. FSTC, OHANSO ABIA
66. FGC, OKPOSI EBONYI
67. FGGC, EZAMGBO EBONYI
68. FGC, OKIGWE IMO
69. FGGC, OWERRI IMO
70. FGC, IBILLO EDO
71. FSTC, UROMI EDO
72. FGGC, BENIN EDO
73. FGC, IKOM CROSS RIVER
74. FGGC, CALABAR CROSS RIVER
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 75. FSC, OGOJA CROSS RIVER
76. FGGC, ABULOMA RIVERS
77. FGC, PORT-HARCOURT RIVERS
78. FSTC, AHODA RIVERS
79. FGGC, IBUSA DELTA
80. FGC, WARRI DELTA
81. FGGC, IMIRINGI BAYELSA
82. FGC, ODI BAYELSA
83. FSTC, TUNGBO BAYELSA
84. FGC, IKOT-EKPENE AKWA IBOM
85. FSTC, UYO AKWA IBOM
86. FGGC, I/OBIO ITONG AKWA IBOM
87. KINGS’ COLLEGE LAGOS
88. QUEENS’ COLLEGE LAGOS
89. FGC, IJANIKIN LAGOS
90. FSTC, YABA LAGOS
91. FGGC, SAGAMU OGUN
92. FGC ODOGBOLU OGUN
93. FSTC, IJEBU-MUSHIN OGUN
94. FGGC, OYO OYO
95. FGC, OGBOMOSO OYO
96. FGGC, AKURE ONDO
97. FGC, IDO-ANI ONDO
98. FSTC, IKARE AKOKO ONDO
99. FGC, IKIRUN OSUN
100. FSTC, ILESHA OSUN
101. FGGC, IPETUMODU OSUN
102. FGC, IKOLE-EKITI EKITI
103. FGGC, EFON-ALAAYE EKITI
104. FSTC, USI-EKITI EKITI
(http://toscanyacademy.com/blog/nigeria-education/list-of-federal-unity-colleges-

in-nigeria/, accessed 27/11/2015)

Entrance into the aforementioned schools is only through a successful

examination of the National Common Entrance Examination conducted by the

National Examination Council. The pupils who sit for this exam must have
13
completed his/her primary or basic education. The entrances cut off mark differs

from state to state in the federation and like the tertiary education entrance

examination, the choices of the candidate is noted when the forms are filled and

candidates will be given admission in their choice unity school is the cut off mark

is met by the pupil.

In 2015, 88,444 candidates sat for the NCEE out of the 95,926 that

registered said NECO (https://www.students.com.ng/common-entrance-88444-

candidates-sat-for-exam-by-neco/, accessed 27/11/2015). The cut off mark for each

state as of 2014 is below:

Table 2: 2014 Cut off Mark for NCEE – State by State for Unity Schools

S/N STATE MALE FEMALE

1. Abia 65 65

2. Adamawa 40 40
3. Akwa-Ibom 63 63
4. Anambra 66 66
5. Bauchi 18 18
6. Benue 60 60
7. Borno 33 33
8. Cross Rivers 54 54
9. Delta 65 65
10. Edo 63 63
11. Enugu 65 65

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12. Imo 66 66
13. Jigawa 37 37
14. Kaduna 52 52
15. Kano 34 34
16. Katsina 37 37
17. Kebbi 35 35
18. Kogi 61 61
19. Kwara 62 62
20. Lagos 65 65
21. Niger 49 49
22. Ogun 65 65
23. Ondo 64 64
24. Osun 64 64
25. Oyo 63 63
26. Plateau 52 52
27. Rivers 62 62
28. Sokoto 15 7
29. Taraba 19 19
30. Yobe 20 20
31. FCT – Abuja 57 57
32. Bayelsa 51 51
33. Ebonyi 60 60
34. Ekiti 62 62
35. Gombe 37 37
36. Nassarawa 42 42

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37. Zamfara 14 12
National Merit Cut-off Mark – 68
(http://ncee.assure.com.ng/sample-page/, 27/11/15)

CONCEPT OF COMPUTING/COMPUTER SYSTEM

Computers as present help a lot to speed up processes and activities of

human. Computers are looked upon as obedient servants who are ever ready to free

man from tedious procedures and produce results as compared with human

computing time. A machine that is capable of accepting input data, store and

process the data based on instructions given by the user and produces expected

results called output is termed a computer. Computing is the act of using a

computer to perform a task.

The instructions or programs given to a computer system aid the computer to

perform the demanded or required task. Hence, a program is a sequence of

instructions given to the computer to perform a specific operation. From Encarta

Encyclopedia, computer program is a set of instructions that directs a computer to

perform some processing function or combination of functions. Consequently, the

function of a computer system is limitless as long as the task is programmable –

that is if the manual task can be represented electronically via codes and tags. Thus

the vide application area of computer (in medicine, education, sport and others).

The relevance of computer to management cannot be over emphasized as

16
organizations need timely, updated and accurate information to base their decision

on current operations and future plans, so as to enable production respond quickly

to changes in demand and other circumstances.

“A system is a collection of components that works together to realize some

objective forms of a system”, Stella Chiemeke, (2006). A system can also be seen

as a combination of machine, people and processes to achieving a unified goal.

Systems always have an input that the people initiate the processes to acts on it

through the machines to have an output according to the system’s design and

programming.

Input Output
Processing

Fig 2.1 A Basic System Component

“A combination of machine, processes and people that produces a defined

set of output from a set of input is a data processing system. The input and output

are interpreted as data, fact, information and so on; depending on the interpreter’s

relation to the system. A data processing system may involve some combination

of:

 Conversion – Converting data to another format.

 Validation – Ensuring that supplied data is "clean, correct and useful."

 Sorting – "Arranging items in some sequence and/or in different sets."

17
  Summarization – Reducing detail data to its main points.

 Aggregation – Combining multiple pieces of data.

 Analysis – The "collection, organization, analysis, interpretation and

presentation of data".

 Reporting – List detail or summary data or computed information.

A very simple example of a data processing system is the process of

maintaining a check register. Transactions – checks and deposits; are recorded as

they occur and the transactions are summarized to determine a current balance.

Monthly the data recorded in the register is reconciled with a hopefully identical

list of transactions processed by the bank.

A more sophisticated record keeping system might further identify the

transactions for example deposits by source or checks by type, such as charitable

contributions. This information might be used to obtain information like the total

of all contributions for the year. The important thing about this example is that it is

a system, in which, all transactions are recorded consistently, and the same method

of bank reconciliation is used each time.

Another example is this system – student admission system, that records all

the academic required input of the applicant as well as other inputs and processes it

to admission or not after a good check of the requirements if fulfilled or otherwise.

Another synonym for data processing system is information processing system.

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Data analysis is a body of methods that help to describe facts, detect patterns,

develop explanations, and test hypotheses. For example, data analysis might be

used to look at sales and customer data to identify connections between products to

allow for cross selling campaigns. Data can be processed either commercially or

scientifically.

Scientific data processing usually involves a great deal of computation

(arithmetic and comparison operations) upon a relatively small amount of input

data, resulting in a small volume of output.

Commercial data processing involves a large volume of input data, relatively

few computational operations, and a large volume of output. Accounting programs

are the prototypical examples of data processing applications. Information system

(IS) is the field that studies such organizational computer systems”. (Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/data_processing_system, accessed: 22-Oct-15)

Information being a processed data is the life wire of any computer system.

The input to most system aren’t necessary raw fact but some are information wish

will be reprocessed to fit the format of the system’s output. These systems are tools

which assesses, calculates, measures, stores, regulates, monitors, retrieves

information amongst others. To a large extent, most systems are information

systems or have a relationship to the properties of an information system.

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 Information System (IS) is described as a system consisting of the network

of all communication channels used within an organization, and includes software

and hardware. It collects and processes data (or information) and provides it to

mangers at all levels that use it for decision making, planning, program

implementation and control. The aim of information system is to improve the

quality and accuracy of information; it also aims in compiling and reporting. An

object/entity may be considered an information processor if it receives information

from another object and in some manner changes the information before

transmitting it.

“An information system may be defined as a continuing and interacting

structure of hardware, software, people and procedures to collect, sort, analyses

evaluate and distribute pertinent, timely and accurate information for use by

recipients to enhance better decision making.

An information system notably, admission system etcetera provides both a

data processing capacity and information to help recipients make better decision.

The information generated from these systems goes a long way to meet the need of

people in a given organization as well as those outside the organization.”

(Apanapudor, 2006).

It is essential for any establishment to ensure that sound and effective

Information systems of various forms like staff information system, visitors

20
tracking system amongst others are in place. Mandell (1986) in (Apanapudor,

2006), said that information system provides stand and reports and most recently,

they provide information, that support decision making.

‘Information can also be seen in some context as a work system which is a

system in which humans or machines perform processes and activities using

resources to produce specific products or services for customers. An information

system is a work system whose activities are devoted to capturing, transmitting,

storing, retrieving, manipulating and displaying information. Information systems

inter relate with data system on one hand and activity system on the other hand. As

a form of communication system, data are represented and processed as a form of

social memory’ said http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/information_system, accessed on

10/10/2015.

A decision is the choice made among the alternative courses of action. Thus

the process in making a choice from available alternative course of action is known

as Decision Making Process. This process can be illustrated as follows

Identify Collect Analyze and seek

problem data relationship for the data

Take
decision Compare alternative Identify constraints / barriers
courses of actions and generate alternative

The Decision Making Process

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Fig 2.2 Decision Making Process (Apanapudor, 2006)

From this diagram, we first identify a problem which in this case is to attain

the genuineness of a product. Next we collect, sort and classify data regarding the

problem. Data collected must be representative of the problem (the unique code),

upon this, the data are analyzed to unveil the possible relationships—positive or

negative. Thereafter we identify possible constraints and alterative courses of

action are noted and used to compare other alternatives. This may require

additional data. At this point the objective of the organization plays some crucial

roles. Observation here is that the decision making process is a closed loop so the

process may continue until an optimal choice is made from the alternative course

of action.

The resultant effect of decision is on information, this triggers information

processing. Information processing as defined by Wikipedia, “is the change

(processing) of information in any manner detectable by an observer. As such, it is

a process that describes everything that happens (changes) in the universe, from the

falling of a rock (a change in position) to the printing of a text file from a digital

computer system.” Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/information_processing,

accessed: 21-Oct-15. In computing, information processing broadly refers to the

use of algorithms to transform data—the defining activity of computers.

22
 The above web page also reported Claude E. Shannon defining information

as the conversion of latent information into manifest information (McGonigle &

Mastrian, 2011). Latent and manifest information is defined through the terms of

equivocation (remaining uncertainty, what value the sender has actually chosen),

dissipation (uncertainty of the sender what the receiver has actually received), and

transformation (saved effort of questioning - equivocation minus dissipation)

(Denning and Bell, 2012). Latent means potential but not obvious or explicit.

“Hidden – present or existing, but in an underdeveloped or unexpressed form”,

said Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. Manifest is the opposite of latent that is it is

obvious.

With software being the mind and hardware being the brain, information

processing is likening to cognitive psychology and functionalism in philosophy.

Two types of information processing exist which can take either the centralized or

decentralized (distributed) forms. These types of information processing are

sequential and parallel.

Parallel processing is the ability of an information system to do many things

at once, notably if someone sees a human, he sees many things that together help to

identify the seen. Sequential processing is the opposite of parallel processing.

Parallel processing doesn’t waste time because the components of the whole are

processed at same time not individually. For a clearer example, the human brain

23
processes information in parallelism else the eyes and the brain will interpret

things differently.

Processor

Output
Input
Data / Information Information

Storage

Fig 2.3 Basic Parts of Information Processing System

(www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/information_processor, 20/10/2015)

The diagram above depicts that data or information can be the input to an

information processing system. The system is up of four parts like the normal

computer system but these parts are the basic, others are feedback and people.

After processing, we get information and no more data.

24
 CHAPTER THREE

SYSTEM ANALYSISAND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 SYSTEM ANALYSIS

System analysis is a problem solving techniques that decomposes a system

into its component pieces for the purpose of studying how well those components

part work and interact to accomplish their purpose. (Lonnie D.B., 2004).

3.1.1 ANALYSIS OF THE EXISTING SYSTEM

The process of admitting a student into the federal unity college in Nigeria is

a manual process whereby the prospective applicant after satisfying the

requirement of having completed his/her basic education proceeds to purchase the

NECO NCEE form, complete same and waits for admission. The process of

applying for admission is not manual but the admission process is manual.

The federal unity colleges are supervised by the federal ministry of

education and the examination body for it is an agency of the ministry. National

Examination Council (NECO) conducts the NCEE (National Common Entrance

Examination) same date in the respective states of the federation and some foreign

countries. After the NCEE, the cut off mark is released for that year and it is not

uniform but differs from state to state.

The present system being a manual system is full of negativities ranging

from the favoritism in selection of the students into their choice unity college to

25
delay. The present system is full of delay despite after the release of the approved

cut off mark for admission into the colleges and the candidates score.

3.1.2 Input Analysis

The input into the system is the candidate’s examination details comprising

of the candidate name, exam number, choice of unity school and exam score. The

system matches the chosen unity college’s requirement against the candidate’s

credentials including the score from the NCEE.

Online Student Admission System - FGC

Admission Forms
Name:

Sex:

Date of Birth:

Exam Number:

Choice FGC:

Exam Score:
Enter

Fig 3.2: Input Form (for Admission Purpose)

26
3.1.3 Output Analysis

After every input, there is an output after processing. The output is delivered

through same application platform but without the admission status. In this new

system, the can get the admission status apart from the exam score details.

Online Student Admission System - FGC

Admission Notification Forms

Enter Your Exam Number:

Proceed

Name
Sex
Date of Birth
Exam Number
Exam Score
Choice of FGC
Status

Print Exit

Fig 3.3: Output Form (candidate gets details of his/her application)

3.1.4 PROBLEMS OF THE EXISTING SYSTEM

There are a lots of problems associated with the present system. These

problems are:

 Absence of a unified admission system for all the unity colleges.

 There is no central database to keep the details of applicant.

27
  The delay in processing the application of the applicant.

 Favoritism among the admission panel by not considering the best

candidate fit for the admission.

3.1.5 ANALYSIS OF THE NEW SYSTEM

This new system is not a system to apply for the NCEE but it is a system

that will be in the hands of the administrator of the unity colleges to totally

automate the manual admission rules. Hence, the candidates to NCEE only need to

supply their examination number to check their admission status.

Every prospective candidate of NECO’s NCEE must purchase a charge from

the Federal Ministry of Education via the unity colleges or accredited centres. This

gives an access to the system’s whereby he/she supplies all the needed data. The

data entered by the prospective student is verified by the admin of this new system

through the query of NECO’s NCEE database.

The student’s NECO NCEE score is only valid for a session (academic

year). Hence a score of 2014 can be used for admission in 2015. The system will

automatically, notify the student of his/her score validity.

Constraints taken by the system to successfully admitting a student to first

choice or second choice of the unity college he/she had selected are as follows:

 Date of Birth (Age) of which the student must be a minimum of 10

years old

28
  Examination Year of which the exam year must be the present year.

 The cut of mark for the selected unity college must be met

 The gender must be corresponding to the college. That’s a boy cannot

be admitted to Federal Government Girls College and vice versa.

3.2 METHODOLOGY

“The process used to collect information and data for the purpose of making

decisions. This can include researches both published and unpublished, interview,

survey and other researching techniques, and could include both past and present

information”. (businessdictionary.com).

In a simple way, the specification of the procedures for the research work

which entails data collection and analyzing in respect to define or solve the

research problem(s) is called research methodology or methodology. According to

Wikipedia.com, “Methodology is the systematic or theoretical analysis of the

methods applied to a field of study (research works mainly). It comprises of the

theoretical analysis of the body of methods and the principles associated with a

branch of knowledge” (www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/methodology, accessed on 05

November, 2015).

3.2.1 DESIGN APPROACH

In computer science design, two approaches are of great significance. Top-

down or Bottom-up are the main approaches to mitigating a problem. While the

29
bottom-up is like the laying of building blocks, the top-down is like the reverse of

the bottom-up. The top-down (stepwise/decomposition design) is the breaking

down of a system to gain insight of the subsystem composition in a reverse

engineering pattern (like roofing before setting of blocks), that is a big picture is

broken down into smaller segments. Bottom-up entails the piecing together of

systems to give to more complex system, hence making the complex system a sub

system of the emergent systems.

The approach adopted for this research is the top-down design approach.

The major higher-level system requirements and functions were identified and then

broken down into successive steps until function-specific modules were designed.

As a level-oriented design approach which directs designers to start with a top-

level description of a system with step by step refinement thereby decomposing

into lower-level and smaller modules, top-down reduces the scope and size of each

module, and focuses more on specific issues.

Easy debugging and modularization are part of the numerous merits and

benefits of top-down design approach and this call for its adoption in this research

work.

3.2.2 OBJECT ORIENTED DESIGN

This is an approach to software design. It is the process of planning a system

of interacting objects to solve a software problem. An object contains encapsulated

30
data and procedures grouped together to present an entity. Hence, in the design of

this system, the CSS – Cascade Styling Sheet which is a object oriented design

language where link to the master page through this ASP.net/HTML tag

(<linkhref="FGCStyleSheet.css"rel="Stylesheet"type="text/css"/>) is a form of object

oriented design being implemented.

Three important concepts in software design are encompassed in object

oriented design (OOD). These are modularity, abstraction and encapsulation (also

called information-hiding). OOD is basically an approach that models the problem

in terms of its objects and the operations performed on them by decomposing the

system into modules and each of the decomposed modules in the system denotes

an object or class of objects from the problem space.

3.2.3 ITERATIVE AND INCREMENTAL METHODOLOGY

The Dynamic System Development Method (DSDM) as a development

methodology is an iterative and incremental approach that embraces principles of

agile development of project management, including continuous user/customer

involvement. DSDM was first released in 1994 though in 2007 it was rebranded

DSDM Atern. DSDM fixes cost, quality and time at the onset and uses the

MoSCoW prioritization of scope. MoSCoW stands for Must, Should, Could and

Would; the two os are just to ease pronunciation.

31
 Agile development principle is an iterative and incremental method of

manning the design and build activities of system development in a highly flexible

and iterative manner. MoSCoW is a prioritization technique used in development

and management to reach a common understanding with the stakeholders on the

importance of placed on the delivery of each requirement.

Study-Feasibility
& Business

Implementation
Functional Model
Iteration

Design &
Build Iteration

Fig 3.1: The DSDM

3.3 DATA COLLECTION/GATHERING

Data in this research were collected using the following methods:

The methods used in data collection in this research are:

32
  OBSERVATION– I observed the method of admission in the federal

unity colleges and saw that it is totally manual. It is only the entrance

examination that is automated. Also seen from the observation was

the admission requirements and the pattern of cut off marks.

 PERSONAL INTERVIEW – Students and some of their parents were

interviewed. They concord to the observation made on the

requirement and further stated their dissatisfaction from the admission

process as some that got even more than the cut off slated that year

were not admitted.

 BROWSING METHOD – Most of the data here apart from the

aforementioned methods were gotten from the internet. Pages were

visited for increased knowledge and proper literature review.

3.4 PROBLEMS OF THE EXISTING SYSTEM

A manual system is always associated with lots of problems of which the

existing system is not exempted. These problems are:

 Delay and stress of admission officers

 Loss of documents and ill confidential system of handling information

 Admission officers can be influenced

 Too much expenses and risk

 Prospective student can’t view their details at any time

33
3.5 JUSTIFICATION FOR THE NEW SYSTEM

For a new system to be called a new system, it must improve on the features

of the old system or as well add new features. This system has been designed to

fully automate the admission process of the existing system. This system will

hence bring a new face to the admission process of students into Federal Unity

Colleges.

34
 CHAPTER FOUR

SYSTEM DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

After a new system has been analyzed, it should be designed and

implemented as to ascertain the level of success or otherwise. An automated

system that is not implemented or is not successful implemented cannot replace the

previous system because of its ill performance. Stella (2006) said, “Even after the

development phase is over, the system project isn’t complete. The new system

must be implemented or installed”.

4.1 SYSTEM SPECIFICATION

This new system being designed with and IDE – Integrated Development

Environment, has lots of automated tools embedded in it. Master pages and content

pages which at the source view have html tags and asp.net codes, also the system

has java script and cascade styling sheets. The system has three master pages and

sixteen content pages.

Although not all of the html codes can be seen here but a description is given

here hence the following made up the system:

 Textbox: This is use to key in data from the user to the system.

 Hyperlinks: This helps in the linkage of pages in the system.

 MenuList: This is implemented to form like the system’s tabs.

 Label: This carries the texts that are not in a button or menu strip.

35
  Buttons: This enables actions to be carried out once it is clicked.

 Image and image button: This is for pictures to be displayed.

 Dropdownlist: Used for selection of events like state (Ebonyi, Enugu,

Kaduna etc)

 Checklistbox: Used for the checking of events like sex (male and

female)

 Divs: This is an HTML tag which helps to create a new work space. It

is used for grouping related design together.

 Tables

4.1.1 GENERAL SYSTEM FUNCTION

The functions of the system are listed below:

 Acceptance of prospective student admission application

 Procession of admission

 Checking of admission

 To give report of application received and others

 To allow applicant to their information and perform possible update

 Report of admitted and non-admitted students

4.1.2 MAIN MENU SPECIFICATION

The main menu of the system is the specific start up page, which is

home.aspx which is a content page to General.master. Linkage to other systems are

36
seen in this home page notably, Home, About, Contact and Gateway hyperlinks.

This links are accessed by all users. To start an application or to log into a

student’s portal, the gateway link is used. The entry to the system requires the card

serial number and the pin. For new application, the serial number and the pin are

validated by the system and the applicant is advices to note the examination

number displayed on the exam number textbox.

4.2 SYSTEM DESIGN

Dynamic System Design Methodology (DSDM) was applied in the design of

this system. A USE CASE which is a Unified Modeling Language (UML) was

used in describing the system. UML was formulated by Booch, Rumbaugh and

Jacobson in 1997 and a use Case diagram shows the diagrammatic design of a

system. In specifying, visualizing and constructing the artifacts of software system

UML was used and it comprises of diagrams such as sequence diagram, state

diagram, collaboration diagram and some others of which use case diagram among

and used here.

A Use Case diagram shows typical interactions between a user (actor) and

the computer system. USE CASEs are included in Unified Modeling Language and

it is a narrative document that describes the sequence of event of an actor using a

system to complete a process, Stella (2006).

37
 A USE CASE diagram consists of three things, viz: actors, use cases and

arrows (for evens of flow) and shows the graphical representation of the systems

functionality by the different users.

In this system, we have three users which are the administrator, the

prospective student and the general public

The use case diagram of this automated system is given below.

Home, About,
Contact & Gateway
Public
Admin

View Unity Colleges

New Application

Old Application

Admission Check
Prospective
Student
Admin
Operations

System Boundary

Fig 4.1 Use Case Diagram - Shows the description of Online Electronic Library.

The use case diagram describes the system and the functions that can be

performed by actors are indicated with the direction of flow.

38
4.3 DATABASE DESIGN

A Database can be seen as a data warehouse and a data and information

repository in an organized way to prevent redundancy and to preserve data

integrity amongst others. On Microsoft SQl Server Management Studio 2008, the

database for this system is UCOAS.

Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio version 2008 was used as the

database (backend) for this system. The database tables are five in number which

are: tblAdmitted, tblCandidates, tblCard, tblCutOff and tblMail. A table in the

database comprises of the field name, data type and allow null when viewed in the

design view.

Table 4.1 Table for Candidates (tblCandidates)

Fields Data type Allow null

Pin nvarchar(50) Yes

Serial nvarchar(50) Yes
ExamNo nvarchar(50) Yes
ExamYear nvarchar(50) Yes
Names nvarchar(50) Yes
Sex nvarchar(50) Yes
DOB nvarchar(50) Yes
CC1 nvarchar(50) Yes
CC2 nvarchar(50) Yes
Score nvarchar(50) Yes
Passport nvarchar(50) Yes
ServerDate nvarchar(50) Yes

39
Fig 4.2 System’s Database Tables

4.3 MAIN SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION

It is not just enough to design or develop a system as implementing the

system and deploying the system plays a vital role. Systems are most times seen as

failed project if the implementation fail or wasn’t successful. Hence,

implementation is likening to the output of computer.

Hardware, software, people and to an extent feedback triggers the success or

otherwise of a system in its implementation. The hardware ranges from the

computer either desktop or laptop to other peripheral devices. The software for the

implementation of this automated system is web browser. They system was tested

on different web browsers and was found compatible.

40
 To avoid the system’s aims and objectives being defeated, all the users must

be trained and computer literates else the system’s aim and objective will be

defeated.

4.4 SYSTEM REQUIREMENT

For the implementation of this system, all that is need are as follows:

The following hardware components are needed

 Computer System – a desktop or laptop(mini laptop and tablets can

also access the system online if it is launched)

The computer system should have the minimum requirement to access the

internet. Hence, when speed is not the focus it should have:

 Pentium 3 Processor

 512 kb RAM

 10 GB Hard disk

 A web browser (any of Mozilla, Chrome, Crazy Browser and others)

4.5 SYSTEM TESTING

An automated system may have a hundred programs and a comprehensive

database, all must be tested together to ensure harmony of operation. The purpose

of system testing is to validate all software, input/output, databases and procedures

and so on as the case may be”, said Hampo (2011).

41
 For testing sake, a local web server (IIS) application, microsoft.net

framework was installed & properly configured. The operating system used is

windows 8.0. Dummy data were used to test the system.

“Before a system is put into operation, its components programs must be

tested to make sure. They work both individually and as a unit. Testing whether

unit testing (individual testing) or individual testing, removes bugs from individual

programs and system application. The testing of this system is done with life data

and test data.

This involves running a series of tests on the new system, so as to check for

errors and to verify that all components of the system are run simultaneously and

then observation and comparisons are made and documented. This is done to

ensure that the new system holds true to the advantages it should have over the

existing system without posing any complications of its own.

System testing should be done before the new system and any new system /

system component is fully implemented, so as to correct any occurrence of low

usability in portions of the system.

42
 CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMEDATION

5.1 SUMMARY

Admission process should be a process handled with all honesty and care.

Admission officers should in no way be influenced. Hence this system has

automated the role played by human admission officers so as to avoid partiality

and wrong admission. Also, this system will put a square peg in a square hole by

ensuring and admitting only those that meet the requirements and the cut off mark.

This system moreover, has made admission to be immediate as soon as the

prospective student fills all the data, the admission can be check.

In a nut shell, the values of this over the existing system are as follows:

 Reliability

 Efficiency

 Accuracy

 Users friendliness with simple GUI

 Easy Accessibility

 Prompt and instantaneous response

 Speed

43
5.2 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED

The visits paid to Federal Government Colleges which are the Unity Schools

are not easy. Since there was no existing automated admission system for the

federal unity colleges, the design of this once wasn’t system since then rules has to

be automated such as:

If (ed - Today.Year < 10) Then 'dob condition - cand must be atleast 10
If (lbEY.Text = Today.Year) Then ' exam year condition - exam must be for
the present year
If (lbSex.Text = "Male") Then ' sch selection based on sex
If (lbCC1.Text = cc1 And lbES.Text >= cc2) Then
lbStatus.Text = "Congrats! You Have Been Admitted into " &
lbCC1.Text & "."
Label3.Text = "Admitted" : Label4.Text = lbCC1.Text
ElseIf (lbCC2.Text = cc1 And lbES.Text >= cc2) Then
lbStatus.Text = "Congrats! You Have Been Admitted into " &
lbCC2.Text & "."
Label3.Text = "Admitted" : Label4.Text = lbCC2.Text
Else
lbStatus.Text = "Sorry! You Scored Low and Have Not Been
Admitted."
End If
ElseIf (lbSex.Text = "Female") Then
If (lbCC1.Text = cc1 And lbES.Text >= cc3) Then
lbStatus.Text = "Congrats! You Have Been Admitted into " &
lbCC1.Text & "."
Label3.Text = "Admitted" : Label4.Text = lbCC1.Text
ElseIf (lbCC2.Text = cc1 And lbES.Text >= cc3) Then
lbStatus.Text = "Congrats! You Have Been Admitted into " &
lbCC2.Text & "."
Label3.Text = "Admitted" : Label4.Text = lbCC2.Text
Else
lbStatus.Text = "Sorry! You Scored Low and Have Not Been
Admitted."
End If
End If
Else
lbStatus.Text = "Your Score Has Expired For This Year. Retake Exam
this Year."
End If
Else
lbStatus.Text = "You Are too Young. Wait Till Your Are Atleast 10 years."
End If

44
5.3 CONCLUSION

Automated systems are more successful when compared with the manual or

traditional systems. The increased speed, confidentiality and ease of use are some

of the successes of automated system over traditional or manual system.

Unity Colleges Online Admission System (UCOAS) when pair side by side

with the manual system has so many benefits. There is no need for a prospective

student of his/her parent to keep visiting the principal of the choice college. This

time around, no student that merited admission that will not be given due to

nepotism or favouritism. Even the parent can check and verifiy his/her child’s

admission status.

Finally, the issues of paper work have been eradicated, information privacy

has been enhanced and data security is promoted.

5.4 RECOMMENDATION FOR FURTHER STUDIES

Further research is advice on this research to facilitate on the system’s

function and design. The inclusion of more modules and feature like the use of

biometric should be incorporated in upcoming research.

Also, a further research should be done on the data collection to avoid

prospective student entering their score and other information.

45
5.5 CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE

This work has contributed to knowledge in the area of online admission

systems. There are little online admission systems that operates in real time like

this. The automation of admission rules has also contributed to knowledge in a way

or another.

46
 REFERENCES

Apanapudor, J.S., Njoseh, I.N., Ogini, N.O., and Omede, G.C. (2006). Introduction to

computer science and data processing [A Practical Approach]. Reprinted. Krisbec

Publications, Agbor – Nigeria.

Byron, S.G. (2001). Theory and Problems of Programming with visual basic Schaum’s

Outline. McGraw – Hill USA.

David, C. Van Essen and Charles, H. Aderson. (2005). Information Processing Strategies

and Pathways in the Primate Visual System. Department of Anatomy &

Neurobiology Washington University School of Medicine St. Louis, MO, USA.

Escalle, C. (February, 1999) Enterprise resource planning. Harvard Business Review.

Hampo, J.A. (2011). Design and Implementation of Students Verification System for

Delta State University Nigeria (DELSU E-VERIFY). An unpublished B.Sc Thesis,

Delta State University, Abraka-Delta State.

Hopper, M. (May, 1990). Rattl1ing SABRE-New ways to compete on information.

Harvard Business Review.

Martinsons, M.G. and Davison R.M. (2007). Strategic decision making and support

systems: Comparing American, Japanese and Chinese management. Decision

Support Systems. 43. 284–300. (Retrieved from:

http://pdf.aminer.org/000/289/253/executive_support_systems_for_strategic_advan

ce_abstract.pdf, accessed on: 15/12/2012)

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Sikiru, O.A. (2009). Implementation of an Online Job recruitment system. An

unpublished M.IT Thesis, University of Lagos, Nigeria.

Stella, C.C. and Franca, A.E (2006). Principles of System Analysis and Design. Rootprint

and publisher, Benin city – Nigeria.

Sasan, Rahmatian. (2003). Transaction Processing Systems. Encyclopedia of Information

Systems. Volume 4. 479 – 488. California State University, Fresno – USA

Uzoka. (1998). Human Resources Management an unpublished M. Tech Thesis, federal

University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State.

Using_Course_Management_System.pdf (retrieved from www.copywrite.com; accessed

on: 15/11/2012)

Waheed, Uz Zaman Bajwa. (2009). New Information Processing Theory and Methods

For Exploiting Sparsity In Wireless Systems. PhD Thesis, University of Wisconsin

– Madison, USA.

WEBSTIES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/information_system (accessed on 29th/09/2015)
www.isbestate.il.USnews/2004/july16.htm/ (Accessed on: 1st November 2015).

http://ec.europa.eu/vis, (accessed on 29th/09/2015)

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/methodology, (accessed on 05 November, 2015)
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_System, accessed on 20/09/2015
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Retrival_System, accessed 20/09/2015

48
APPENDIX A – SAMPLE SOURCE CODE

Connection Class:

Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Imports Microsoft.VisualBasic

Public Class UCOAS

Public con As SqlConnection
Public ServerDate As DateTime
Public Sub UCOAS_Connect()
Try
con = New SqlConnection("Data Source=HAMPOJOHNPAULAC\SQLEXPRESS;Initial
Catalog=UCOAS;User ID=sa; password=hamplus1; integrated security=true")
If con.State = Data.ConnectionState.Open Then
con.Close()
End If
con.Open()
Catch ex As Exception
MsgBox(ex.Message, MsgBoxStyle.Information, "UCOAS Information")
End Try
End Sub
Public Sub UCOAS_date()
UCOAS_Connect()
Dim cmd As New SqlCommand("Select GetDate()", con)
ServerDate = cmd.ExecuteScalar()
End Sub
End Class

Cascade Styling Sheet:

.body /* there is diference btw .body and body note it*/

{
background: #ECBE79;
font-size: 1em;
font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Lucida Grande", "Segoe UI", Arial, Helvetica,
Verdana, sans-serif;
margin: 0px;
padding: 0px;
color: #696969;
width:900px;
}

.header
{
width: 900px;
height: 90px;
position: relative;
}

.footer
{
width: 900px;
height:77px;
position:relative;

49
 /*top: 16px;
left: 0px;*/
}

.button
{
color:#FFFFFF;
border-color:#dde4ec;
background-color:#166417;
font-weight:bold;
border-style:ridge;
}

.divs
{
vertical-align:middle;
line-height:normal;
width: 895px;
height: 33px;
right: 70px;
left: 230px;
position:relative;
}

.page
{
width: 900px;
background-color: #fff;
margin: 20px auto 0px auto;
border: 1px solid #496077;
}

.tables
{
width:96%;
text-align:center;
vertical-align:middle;
}

.others
{
font-weight: 700;
margin: 0px;
padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px;
color: #f9f9f9;
border: none;
line-height: 2em;
font-size: 2em;
}

.gateway
{
text-align:center;
color:ThreeDFace;
text-transform:capitalize;
font-size:x-large;
font-style:italic;
font-weight:bolder;

50
}

.loginDisplay
{
font-size: 1.1em;
display: block;
text-align: right;
padding: 5px;
color: White;
vertical-align:top;
line-height:normal;
width: 895px;
height: 28px;
}

div.menu ul
{
list-style: none;
margin: 5px;
padding: 5px;
width: auto;
}

div.menu ul li a, div.menu ul li a:visited

{
background-color: #166417;
border: 1px #FFFFFF solid;
color: #dde4ec;
display:inline-block ;
line-height: 1.35em;
padding: 4px 20px;
text-decoration: blink;
white-space:pre-wrap ;
}
General Master Page:
<%@ Master Language="VB" CodeFile="General.master.vb" Inherits="General" %>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"

"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head runat="server">
<title>UCOAS Portal</title>
<link href="FGCStyleSheet.css" rel="Stylesheet" type="text/css" />
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="head" runat="server">
</asp:ContentPlaceHolder>
<style type="text/css">
.style1
{
width: 184px;
height: 591px;
}
.style2
{
width: 544px;
}

51
 .style3
{
width: 124px;
}
#Space
{
text-align: right;
}
</style>
<!-- Insert to your webpage before the </head> -->
<script src="sliderengine/jquery.js"></script>
<script src="sliderengine/amazingslider.js"></script>
<script src="sliderengine/initslider-1.js"></script>
<!-- End of head section HTML codes -->

</head>
<body>
<form id="form1" runat="server" class="">
<div id="MainForm" class="divs" align="center">
<div id="Header" class="header">
<img alt="Header Image" class="header" src="UCOAS_Images/UCOAS-Header.jpg"
/></div>
<br/>
<div id="Space">
<asp:LinkButton ID="LinkButton1" runat="server">Admin
Login</asp:LinkButton>
</div>
<div id="content">
<table id="main" class="tables" align="center">
<tr>
<td class="style3" valign="top" rowspan="4">

<asp:Menu ID="Menu1" runat="server" EnableViewState="false"

IncludeStyleBlock="false" CssClass="menu">
<Items>
<asp:MenuItem Text="Home" Value="Home"
NavigateUrl="~/Home.aspx"></asp:MenuItem>
<asp:MenuItem Text="About" Value="About"
NavigateUrl="~/About.aspx"></asp:MenuItem>
<asp:MenuItem Text="Contact" Value="Contact"
NavigateUrl="~/Contact.aspx"></asp:MenuItem>
<asp:MenuItem Text="Gateway" Value="Gateway"
NavigateUrl="~/Gateway.aspx"></asp:MenuItem>
</Items>
</asp:Menu>

</td>
<td class="style2" valign="top">
<div id="slider">
<!-- Insert to your webpage where you want to display the slider -->
<div id="amazingslider-1" style="display:block;position:relative;margin:15px auto
30px;">
<ul class="amazingslider-slides" style="display:none;">
<li><img src="images/slide1.jpg" alt="slide1" data-description="A View of
Federal Ministry of Education HQrts, Abuja - Nigeria" /> </li>
<li><img src="images/slide2.jpg" alt="slide2" data-description="The Hon.
Minister and some delegates at a function" /> </li>

52
 <li><img src="images/slide3.jpg" alt="slide3" data-description="A View of
Federal Ministry of Education HQrts, Abuja - Nigeria" /> </li>
<li><img src="images/slide4.jpg" alt="slide4" data-description="The Hon.
Minister and some delegates at a function" /> </li>
<li><img src="images/slide5.jpg" alt="slide5" data-description="The Hon.
Minister and some delegates at a function" /> </li>
<li><img src="images/slide6.jpg" alt="slide6" data-description="Staff Photo
of the Ministry HQrts" /> </li>
<li><img src="images/slide9.jpg" alt="slide9" data-description="The Hon.
Minister and some delegates at a function" /> </li>
<li><img src="images/slide10.jpg" alt="slide10" data-description="The Hon.
Minister and some delegates at a function" /> </li>
<li><img src="images/slide11.jpg" alt="slide11" data-description="The Hon.
Minister and some delegates at a function" /> </li>
<li><img src="images/slider7.jpg" alt="slider7" data-description="The Hon.
Perm. Sec. and some delegates at a Visit" /> </li>
<li><img src="images/slider8.jpg" alt="slider8" data-description="The Hon.
Minister and some delegates at a function" /> </li>
<li><img src="images/slider12.jpg" alt="slider12" data-description="Staff
Photo of the Ministry HQrts" /> </li>
<li><img src="images/slider13.jpg" alt="slider13" data-description="The Hon.
Perm. Sec. and some delegates at a Visit" /> </li>
<li><img src="images/slider14.jpg" alt="slider14" data-
description="Management Staff in a meeting" /> </li>
<li><img src="images/slider15.jpg" alt="slider15" data-
description="Management Staff in a meeting" /> </li>
</ul>
<ul class="amazingslider-thumbnails" style="display:none;">
<li><img src="images/thumbnails/slide1.jpg" /></li>
<li><img src="images/thumbnails/slide2.jpg" /></li>
<li><img src="images/thumbnails/slide3.jpg" /></li>
<li><img src="images/thumbnails/slide4.jpg" /></li>
<li><img src="images/thumbnails/slide5.jpg" /></li>
<li><img src="images/thumbnails/slide6.jpg" /></li>
<li><img src="images/thumbnails/slide9.jpg" /></li>
<li><img src="images/thumbnails/slide10.jpg" /></li>
<li><img src="images/thumbnails/slide11.jpg" /></li>
<li><img src="images/thumbnails/slider7.jpg" /></li>
<li><img src="images/thumbnails/slider8.jpg" /></li>
<li><img src="images/thumbnails/slider12.jpg" /></li>
<li><img src="images/thumbnails/slider13.jpg" /></li>
<li><img src="images/thumbnails/slider14.jpg" /></li>
<li><img src="images/thumbnails/slider15.jpg" /></li>
</ul>
<div class="amazingslider-engine" style="display:none;"><a
href="http://www.amazingslider.com">jQuery Slider</a></div>
</div>
<!-- End of body section HTML codes -->

<%--<marquee behaviour="slide" direction="right">

<img src="UCOAS_Images/slide1.jpg" />
<img src="UCOAS_Images/slide2.jpg" />
<img src="UCOAS_Images/slide3.jpg" />
<img src="UCOAS_Images/slide4.jpg" />
<img src="UCOAS_Images/slide5.jpg" />
<img src="UCOAS_Images/slide6.jpg" />
<img src="UCOAS_Images/slider7.jpg" />
<img src="UCOAS_Images/slider8.jpg" />

53
 <img src="UCOAS_Images/slide9.jpg" />
<img src="UCOAS_Images/slide10.jpg" />
<img src="UCOAS_Images/slide11.jpg" />
<img src="UCOAS_Images/slider12.jpg" />
<img src="UCOAS_Images/slider13.jpg" />
<img src="UCOAS_Images/slider14.jpg" />
<img src="UCOAS_Images/slider15.jpg" />
</marquee>--%>
</div>
</td>
<td valign="top" align="right" rowspan="4">
<img alt="Management Heads" class="style1"
src="UCOAS_Images/Merged.jpg" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="style2" valign="top">
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="ContentPlaceHolder1" runat="server">

</asp:ContentPlaceHolder>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="style2" valign="top">
&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="style2" valign="top">
&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<div id="Space1">
</div>
<br />
<div id="Footer" class="footer">
<img alt="Footer Image" class="footer" src="UCOAS_Images/UCOAS-Footer.jpg"
/></div>
</div>
</form>
</body>
</html>

Home Content Page:

<%@ Page Title="" Language="VB" MasterPageFile="~/General.master" AutoEventWireup="false"

CodeFile="Home.aspx.vb" Inherits="Home" %>

<asp:Content ID="Content1" ContentPlaceHolderID="head" Runat="Server">

</asp:Content>
<asp:Content ID="Content2" ContentPlaceHolderID="ContentPlaceHolder1" Runat="Server">
<asp:Panel ID="Panel1" runat="server">
<table align="center" class="tables">
<tr>
<td style="text-align: left">
<h3>
<asp:Label ID="Label1" runat="server"

54
 style="font-weight: 700; font-family: 'Eras Bold ITC'"
Text=".::. Home"></asp:Label>
</h3>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: left">
<p>
Education in national unity is paramount in a nation with great
cultural
diversities like ours - Nigeria. It is on this note I, the
Permenant Secretary
on behalf of the Hon. Ministers and fellow Nigerians welcome you
to the
Admission System for Unity Colleges in our dear Country.</p>
<p>
To know more about the unity colleges, please visit the About
link. Got any
issue or need, visit the Contact link. <strong>A detail list of
the Unity
Colleges and their location is here (</strong><asp:HyperLink
ID="HyperLink2"
runat="server" NavigateUrl="~/FGCs.aspx">FGCs</asp:HyperLink>
<strong>).</strong></p>
<p>
You can Sign into this system from the Gateway link or
click&nbsp;
<asp:HyperLink ID="HyperLink1" runat="server"
NavigateUrl="~/Gateway.aspx">HERE</asp:HyperLink>
. Your sign in paramaters are same as that of your NCEE -
National Common
Entrance Examination; conducted by the National Examination
Council (NECO). That
is your card <strong>Serial Number</strong> and <strong>Pin
Number</strong>.
Note that you can&#39;t change your login or sign in parameters.
Only those that
registered for the NCEE can make use of this system.</p>
<p>
Sign in today being
<em><asp:Label ID="DT" runat="server" Text="DT" style="font-
weight: 700"></asp:Label></em>
&nbsp;to see your admission status.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
</table>
</asp:Panel>
</asp:Content>

Gateway Page VB Code:

Imports System.Data.SqlClient

55
Partial Class Gateway
Inherits System.Web.UI.Page

Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles

Me.Load
DT.Text = Today.ToShortDateString
End Sub

Protected Sub btnSignin_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)

Handles btnSignin.Click
Dim jp, nkem As New UCOAS
nkem.UCOAS_Connect() : jp.UCOAS_date()
Dim cmd As New SqlCommand("SELECT * FROM tblCandidates WHERE Pin=@a AND
Serial=@b", nkem.con)
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@a", txtCPN.Text)
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@b", txtCSN.Text)
cmd.ExecuteNonQuery()
Dim rd As SqlDataReader = cmd.ExecuteReader
rd.Read()
If rd.HasRows = True Then
Session("Me") = rd.Item("ExamNo")
Response.Redirect("MyProfile.aspx")
Else
ClientScript.RegisterStartupScript(Page.GetType(), "alert", "alert('Login
Record Not Found!');window.location='Gateway.aspx';", True)
End If
End Sub
End Class

56
APPENDIX B – SAMPLE INTERFACES

Home Page

New Application Page

57
Student Data Page

Admission Page

58