1.1 Introduction
Fees payments by students in Anglican Girls Grammar School are made through cash deposits, Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and Bank drafts to the school's accounts in specific bank branches (Makerere University, 2004). Organizations want to make it easy and convenient for customers to pay, so they offer multiple choices of payment types and channels”. Therefore, the project provides an alternative method that enables secure online fees payment by students and their sponsors.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Fees payments by students in Anglican Girls Grammar School (AGGS) are made through cash deposits, Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and Bank drafts to the school’s accounts in specific bank branches (AGGS, 2020). Plymouth and Martin (2009) stress that, “For nearly every business, the simple act of collecting payments from consumers is actually quite complex. Organizations want to make it easy and convenient for customers to pay, so they offer multiple choices of payment types and channels”. Therefore, the project provides an alternative method that enables secure online fees payment by students and their sponsors. AGGS has a large number of students who are supposed to pay all the school fees through cash deposits or bank drafts to the school’s accounts in specific bank branches. This method of paying fees has not been efficient enough especially during periods of tests and examinations when most of the students are paying fees to meet the requirements for entering examination rooms. The process of fees payment in such periods is characterized by long queues, too much waiting by students and congestion at banks where payments are made. Students queue to pay fees and those who do not reach counters within the banks‟ working hours are advised to return the next day.
This process has always resulted in students missing to sit for their tests and/or examinations while they are queuing to make payments. It has also resulted to too much costs and a lot of time used in transferring and withdrawing money whenever sponsors of students make money transfers to students who can pay school fees at specific bank branches. The process requires sponsors of students from wherever they are to send money to students through either banks, mobile money or any other possible way(s) so that students pay school fees or use EFT that require swift codes to pay fees to the school. This consumes time and sponsors incur extra costs in this process of sending money to students. It was upon this background that the researchers suggested an alternative method which enables secure online fees payment by students and their sponsors.
1.3 Statement of the Problem
The available modes of fees payment to Anglican Girls Grammar School are through cash deposits, Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and bank drafts have caused long queues, students missing to sit for their tests and examinations, and loss of money intended for fees while waiting to reach bank counters to make payments among others.
AGGS and other schools across the country has been looking for complete solution for school fees management but most of the systems available on the market either doesn’t addresses full payment feature or has plenty unnecessary features. Some complete system on the market may not be suitable for the local education system since they may be developed for school in other countries. These systems have their own databases there by duplicating data among these system since you can have a student details table in each of the separate systems.
This project curbs the above problems by developing of an integrated school fees payment system whereby a single large database will be created and all other application like the students profiling, fees payment, payment verification and receipt printing will be built upon a single database. The web-based technology enables students and their sponsors to securely pay university fees online from wherever they are using credit and debit cards and from whichever location.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study
The main aim of this project is to develop an automated school fees payment system for Anglican Girls Grammar School that will aid in managing all school fees payments. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To develop a web based school fees payment system available for students and sponsors wherever their location.
- To design a system that will generate invoices at the beginning of each term and facilitates fees payment keeping a record of all the transactions done by the student and the amount a student owes the school
- To develop an application software that will capture and store the students’ profile into a database
1.5 Scope of Study
The study was carried out in Anglican Girls Grammar School and was intended to offer an extra channel for fees payment, through the development of a secure online fees payment system. The study focused on the development of a web based system that allows secure online fees payment. The system will be used by students and their sponsors to pay all kinds of university fees online, and by university accounts offices to verify students’ payments. The system captures financial information after payments are made.
1.6 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this institution to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).
1.7 Significance of Study
Literature asserts that, for nearly every business, the simple act of collecting payments from consumers is actually quite complex and yet organizations want to make it easy and convenient for customers to pay.
This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
1.8 Definition of Terms
- Credentials: A qualification, achievement, quality, or aspect of a person's background, especially when used to indicate their suitability for something.
- Electronic: (of a device) having or operating with components such as microchips and transistors that control and direct electric currents.
- Information: What is conveyed or represented by a particular arrangement or sequence of things.
- Login: The act of logging in to a database, mobile device, or computer, especially a multiuser computer or a remote or networked computer system.
- Online: It is any activity that is performed while connected to a computer or under computer control.
- Portal: A website or web page providing access or links to other sites.
- Registrant: A person who registers something.
- Registration: The action or process of registering or of being registered.
- Screening: The evaluation or investigation of something as part of a methodical survey, to assess suitability for a particular role or purpose.
- Simultaneous: Occurring, operating, or done at the same time.
- Tension: Mental or emotional strain.
- Queue: A line or sequence of people or vehicles awaiting their turn to be attended to or to proceed.
