MUSHIMBO PRIMARY LEARNERS’ SOCIAL

MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

Project site: Mushimbo Primary School

Project supervisor: Mr Mbiza

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ABSTRACT

The purpose of this project was to digitize learners’ social records at Mushimbo Primary School
in Mutoko District in Mashonaland East Province. Three project objectives were formulated to
guide in the development process and to specify the requirements of the system. The internal
survey made by the school head at the school showed pathetic results concerning the safe keep of
the important learners records. The school management authority found it necessary to discard
the manual system by digitizing learners’ social records thereby developing a computer
application called Learners’ Social Management System. The project manager is among the
concerned staff of the school and an internal arrangement was made by relevant school
authorities and the project manager was directed to carry out the project. Computer-Assisted
Personal Interviews were done with structured open ended questions to the sample and findings
proved the necessity for the system and specifications were noted. The Learners’ Social
Management System was developed and designed to maintain learners’ social records and
confidentiality. The application is a distributed application because data is stored centrally by the
school but accessed by class teachers and selective administrators at the school. Learners and
parents/guardians could also access the system during registration to verify details captured and
sometimes to update details when change is necessary. The system have a login page where a
user would enter a username and a password to start manipulating or search learner’s social
information.

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CHAPTER ONE

1.1 INTRODUCTION
In this modern world the use of technology, computers in particular is inevitable as it have more
benefits as compared to manual systems. The Learners’ Social Management System (LSMS)
which is the focus of this project, is a computer application that digitize learners’ social records
so that they can be stored as electronic files and viewed and edited on a computer. Computers
bring positive changes in the working places as they are capable of storing and accessing vast
amounts of information, save time, help organize and search information more efficiently. The
system is designed to capture learner’s full names, place of birth, date of birth, birth entry
number, names of both parents, parents’ occupations, current location, distance travelled to
school, home contact details, behavior, performance summary, health issues, disability, sporting
activity, interests, year enrolled and language(s) spoken. The Learner’s Social Management
System application is said to address cost factors, meet confidential policies, access time,
reliability and the need to store accurate information. This documentation narrates procedures
undertaken in developing the Learners’ Social Management System.

1.2 ORGANISATIONAL BACKGROUND

Mushimbo Primary is found in Mutoko District in the Mashonaland East Province. The school is
one of the best competitive schools in the province which is known for producing good results
always in both academics and in sporting activities. The school has a huge enrollment of one
thousand five hundred and twenty two learners both junior and infants and forty two teachers
including the head and the deputy head. The school is currently operating under hot sitting as a
measure to utilize inadequate classrooms.
The school management had challenges with record keeping, a survey recently made by the
school head showed that nineteen out of forty social records were misplaced and among twenty
one which were found nine of them were erased often times having dirty contents which were
not easy to interpret.

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The school head became concerned since social records of learners are crucial in promoting
effective teaching and learning and are needed as transitional requirements in every juncture on
future grades. Apart from that, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Charity
Organizations etc which help the needy and vulnerable children make use of the social records of
the learners when paying school levies or when donating food or clothes. Therefore, the school
authority decided to look for a computer application which will be reliable, updatable and easy to
use and to access whenever needed.

1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Mushimbo Primary found it difficult to keep social records of learners using the manual system
(exercise books) at all grade levels due to different reasons to include the lack of privacy, hard to
make changes, prone to damage and not reliable as it can be misplaced and can take up a lot of
space. The school authority found it necessary to migrate from the manual system by adopting a
modern computer application that will store, retrieve and update learners’ social information.

1.4 PROJECT AIM

To design and develop a reliable computer application that shall be responsible for capturing,
retrieving, updating and storing social information of Mushimbo Primary School learners.

1.5 OBJECTIVES
Specifically the project will be able to:
1. Create a database which shall keep learners’ social information.
2. Provide a highly protected system with passwords and usernames as security features.
3. Provide the capability to access and update information of learners.

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1.6 FEASIBILITY AND PLANNING
Determining and validating candid need of the project, several assessments were analyzed
concerning the school’s capability to meet all financial resources, technical capabilities, risks
associated with the project and all legal requirements necessary to undertake the project. The
school was ready and devoted to fund the project and to encounter any associated project risks.
Careful planning of the roadmap was put into place in order to mitigate possible project failure.

1.6.1 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY

Contemporary challenges in the field of educational management require the ultimate use of
modern technologies and applications. Approaching social record keeping in school system from
a theoretical perspective provides an opportunity for educational managers, supervisors,
headmasters and teachers to explore educational issues in an environment that is conducive for
their respective professional development and reflections.
The project aims to offer an excellent application package to support teachers and the school
administration. It is comprehensive and thorough, yet encompassed by tight security features
which shall allow only access to authorized persons by the administration in the form of a
password and a user name. This project is both flexible and yet defined enough to ensure
positive outcomes which shall allow easy access and being user friendly to all users except for
administrators who shall be responsible for advanced settings and configurations. Where changes
would be necessary, the system shall have an option for updating, editing and deleting in order to
contain valid and accurate learners' records. When the system is applied fully and correctly, it
shall serve as a valuable and reliable source of learners’ social information for Mushimbo
Primary School for successful and effective teaching and learning.

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1.6.2 BUSINESS VALUE

The Learners’ Social Management System has a unique design with the element of usability,
letting users to interact effectively with the application. The application is user friendly and
enable users to complete their tasks and achieve specific goals accurately and proficiently. The
application is also designed with security features which secure both the application and
learners’ social records. Passwords and usernames are used as security tools that allows only
authorised users to access learners’ social records. The system has an application shield used for
extended protection, in case the user forgets to logout or takes a short break the system will
sleeps and would request for additional information in order to resume operations, failing to
provide the needed information no access will be granted. The learners’ Social Management
System meets all the requirements specified by the user and is always ready to accept changes
required by the user even in the future. The system is very reliable, totally free from technical
errors and it performs according to its specifications whenever the login process is done
successfully. Finally, the Learners’ Social Management System is really a blessing to Mushimbo
Primary as it reduced unnecessary stationary costs, space issues, security and the provision of
easy and reliable access to learners’ social records.

1.6.2 FEASIBILITY STUDY

Mahesh and Mittal (2009) stated that, feasibility study is the analysis of problems to determine if
it can be solved effectively. It is carried out in order to assess the viability of a new project. Any
digitization project need to consider every aspect of feasibility study which involves determining
whether it is Social, Technical, Safety, Environmental, Managerial, Financial, and
organizationally is achievable (Zkjadoon, 2016). Due to the fact that digitization project involved
various kinds of extended needs as compared to the implementation of a normal information
system. The need of special software (Intelligent Character Recognition) and skilled staff. It is
recommended that every digitization project should consider every angle of feasibility study to
reduce the risk of making incorrect decisions. Some of the feasibility study that need to be
considered are:

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SOCIAL FEASIBILITY
The influence on the social status of the participants by the project was evaluated in order to
guarantee compatibility. Şentürk (2014) suggest that, a digitization project need to address the
issues on the user. Employees, teachers in particular showed a positive attitude towards the
development. However, a few raised concerns on skills as they are illiterate, hence proved the
need for training in order to operate the system. The project serve the various need of teachers
and parents based on the evaluation of assessment of the project’s impact on the attitudes of
teachers and parents that live and work in the project’s area of influence. In an exercise aimed at
identifying and analyzing social impacts of the system to stakeholders in order to understand the
scale and reach of the Learners’ Social Management System which ensures that these impacts are
mitigated, users showed concerns on the system to have the privacy policy and make the
information accessible whenever needed by reliable authority. After understanding benefits of
the project stakeholders proved to be in full support and the project is considered in the green
light decision.

TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY
A digital asset availability depends on a certain hardware and software. In order to stay away
from possible losses, the school found it necessary to purchase hardware such as storage media,
backup equipment and computers both laptops and desktops. The Learners’ Social Management
System application supports windows eight and ten and at least four gigabyte RAM. a clear
metadata policy. The policy was established to describe how to manage social records of
learners. Furthermore, by having this metadata the process of migration to update software
formats will be easier and the change of data losses will be avoided. Effective metadata plan will
keep the data intact and each update could be done smoothly. The learners’ social management
system requires hardware which include. The application is user friendly therefore, it can be
operated by any literate user having certification can be an added advantage.

MANAGERIAL FEASIBILITY
The Learners’ Social Management System is designed to support the safety and confidentiality
of learners’ social records. The administrator will have a password and a user name to login into
the system in order to perform advanced administrative duties like deleting, updating or adding
both a user and a learner. Teachers will also have different passwords and usernames to login in
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order to perform specified activities which are capturing new information and to access learners’
social records. Parents and guardians will be probed to authenticate the captured learners’ social
records in a bid to keep correct learners’ social records.

FINANCIAL FEASIBILITY
The project can only be successful if sufficient funds required to implement it are made
available. Riley-Reid, (2015) stress that, any digitization project should think where will the
money for the project come from to avoid hindrance during the course of implementing the
project. The School Development Committee (SDC) is the project proponent, which will be
responsible to meet any cost which shall be needed in the project development process. There is
need to purchase hardware as it is the most important item to store the records, the hardware will
be in the form of storage media, backup equipment and computers. After hardware the software
comes in, needed softwares include operating system (OS), Driver pack solution, and Microsoft
office and security software. The issue regarding softwares had specifications on types of
operating system and standard software for the database. The Learners’ Social Management
System entails a protection software to safeguard learners’ social records against viruses and
unauthorized access.

1.6.3 RISKY ANALYSIS

Performing a risk analysis is an important step in being prepared for potential problems that can
occur within any digitisation project. During the risk analysis, if a potential risk is identified, a
solution or plan of action should be developed. (A problem analysed and planned early is a
known quantity. Likewise, unanticipated problems can affect a project with no resolution plan.)
Below is a list of possible project risks provided for use in assessing the factors that may have an
effect on the cost and schedule of the digitisation project. The project manager must always be
vigilant, anticipating risk factors that have not been previously identified. However, questions
below should be answered as a first step towards identifying and managing risks associated with
the digitisation project. This list should be reviewed throughout the life of the project, at points

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such as when the project plan is being revised for the next lifecycle stage, to reassess whether
risk factors have changed as the project progresses.
Questions are answered either in terms of low, medium, or high risk, or yes/no. Using the stated
criteria to determine the risk to the project. The next step would be to plan how to manage this
risk.
The following is a list of potential project risks. Each risk that receives a high score should have
a corresponding plan for management and control of that risk. Circle the one that best describes
that item’s risk. Apply the following criteria when selecting the appropriate risk level.
Low - Very unlikely that this will occur during the life of the project.
Medium - There is a 50-50 chance that this will occur during the life of the project.
High - Very likely that this will occur during the life of the project.

1. Acquisition of items critical to project success (e.g., hardware and/or software resources)
could be delayed in the procurement process.

Low Medium High

2. Project schedule will exceed one fiscal year.
Low Medium High
3. Burden rates (cost of labour), support costs, or other charges will increase from year to year.
Low Medium High
4. Project team member(s) will not be in place when required.
Low Medium High
5. Risks with the hardware and software (the development platform) chosen to perform project
development. e.g., can this hardware and software handle the workload required to complete
the project?
Low Medium High
6. Chance that the workstation environment of the intended user will change after requirements
are gathered.
Low Medium High
7. Risks associated with personnel assigned to the project who may be pulled off anytime for
another assignment.
Low Medium High
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8. Risk to the project resulting from a mandated/mandatory completion date for the project.
Low Medium High
Below is a list of possible solutions that correspond to the risk statements contained in the
previous prompt list. These solutions are not intended to be exhaustive. Other factors may apply
to the project that would give it a high risk in a particular area. These solutions are meant to be a
guide and may not be all inclusive.

1. If a specific piece of hardware (e.g storage device) and /or software (e.g., operating system)
is/are needed to develop or implement the project and there is either a supply problem on the
manufacturer's end or the procurement process takes a long time.
2. If the project goes beyond the current fiscal year, funding for the project may decrease or dry
up for the next fiscal year. The client should be aware of this as it may affect the delivery
date.
3. If burden rates, support costs, and/or charges increase and are not planned for, the contractor
will be graded negatively on their ability to work within their budget.
4. Not having the required people in place to complete the project would include things like not
having a Visual Basic programmer in place to code the Graphical User Interface portions of
the application.
5. If the hardware and software products are prone to bugs and are “slow”, they may be
inappropriate for developing a system. This can affect development, especially during the
coding and testing stages.
6. With today's rapidly changing software and hardware workstation environment there is a
good chance that changes to the user's intended environment will occur, and that they will
have an effect on the project.
7. When client support staff persons are not available to discuss the status of projects or resolve
issues, it can affect everything from requirements gathering to testing. Unless someone of
equal skills is made available, the schedule and quality of the product will inevitably suffer.
8. A client directed completion simply means one of the variables that a project manager has to
work with has been fixed. If the client says development will be completed by June 30, than
the other factors such as resources, function, and quality will have to be arranged in such a

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 way as to meet the fixed date. One thing to keep in mind. Not all dates are achievable. If the
date is not achievable, the reasons why should be spelled out to the client.

1.6.4 STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS

It is often beneficial for IT projects to identify and analyse the needs and concerns of different
stakeholders, particularly when the project aims to involve them. In bridging the project and
policy, the councillor, SDC, headmaster, deputy and teachers were the stakeholders which were
engaged to pose their views concerning the project. The stakeholders’ were positive towards the
project and proved to support it at any level of implementation. The policy can also be used later
in the project, when the system is fully functional the team may want to use the evidence to
create the policy impact. Then it can be a useful tool to consider when any authority would need
to know about the project.
The system provide the capability to access and update social information of learners stored in a
database. Passwords and usernames are security features made to protect the system from
unauthorized users. Password and a username would be used by every user, only operations
would differ following the hierarchy of the school. Teachers are able to enter, update and retrieve
learners’ social information while administrators (T.I.C, Headmaster and deputy head) are able
delete and perform advanced duties such as changing passwords and usernames. Parents and
guardians will be responsible to verify the captured information.

1.6.6 WORK PLAN

In a bid to have an adorable project results it is essential to efficiently utilize time, resources,
budget and have a well scheduled project plan. Project description, strategies, budget and
resources and timeline are important components of a work plan which shall be sub-headings
below.

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Modern challenges in the field of educational management require the ultimate use of modern
technologies and applications, giving birth to the Learners’ Social Management System. The
Learners’ Social Management System is a computer application for keeping social records of
learners. The application is accountable for entering, updating and retrieving social information
of learners. The system has a database which is responsible for storing learners’ social records.
The application requires a password and a username in order to login, this is a security measure
to only allow authorised users to access and manipulate social records of learners. Security
features are flexible under advanced settings which can only be made possible by
administrators who also performs additional administrative tasks like deleting. The system is
reliable, user friendly, accessible and secure to private social records of learners.
STRATEGIES USED
Proper project planning with rigorous strategies will likely to reap excellence results. The
project shall use strategies listed and explained below and how they shall be applied.
1. Begin with the end in mind, objectives and goals are clearly defined, considering the
alignment of final project outcomes.
2. Gain buy in from core team, executives would work together with efforts of other team
members. Executives will communicate to sponsors on what they want to do and why they
want to do it.
3. Build a high performing team, building a highly qualified team that can help to define the
right strategies and alignments for the project. Project leaders will align the project’s vision and
work with the team to successfully deliver key programs and projects.
4. Monitoring progress and performance through accountability, meetings are a great way to
firm up agreements, identify risks and hold the team members accountable to follow through to
produce results. Keeping communication line open throughout the project to make sure follow
up before, during and after meetings regarding the outstanding actions, items, issues and risks.
5. Be open and flexible, since the project is unique, leaders should be nimble, adaptable ad
flexible to adjust and course correct their project.
6. Celebrate incremental achievements, breaking down the project execution phases into
smaller parts, and celebrate at each phase quick wins and refinements to improve processes and
performance to boost morale and acknowledge team efforts.
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7. Champion a new reality, failure is hard to recognise without hindsight, in this regard there is
need to champion a new reality since fail does not mean the end but however the starting point
of something new.

BUDGET AND RESOURCES

The budget was made bearing in mind the tasks to be performed, team members’ salaries and
other bills. The budget leaves enough time to ensure that the project will be completed, final
report prepared, and all bills paid falls within the project schedule without the need for a
contract amendment. Below is a table which illustrates the budget.
Task Time Labour rate Total costs
Prototype design 1 day $10 per hour $80.00
Purchasing materials 3 days $15 per hour $360.00
Manufacture of prototype 3 days $10 per hour $240.00
Design a database 1 day $15 per hour $120.00
Design user interface 1 day $15 per hour $120.00
Create codes 2 days $15 per hour $240.00
Initial production run 3 days $10 per hour $240.00
Staff training 1 day $10 per hour $80.00
Staff input on prototype 1 day $10 per hour $80.00
Documentation 1 day $5 per hour $40.00
Work package cost $1 600.00

Budget summary

TIMELINE
Invoices to be reimbursed will be for services that fall between the start date and
completion date of the project. The starting date stated, make is before the commencement
of work and have levered costs which have been incurred. Below is the table to show the
dates.

PROJECT’S TIMELINE
Start Date 03/08/20
End Date 19/08/20

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CHAPTER TWO

SYSTEMS ANALYSIS
The development of the Learners’ Social Management System is fully planned with the intent of
producing the quality system through better procedures and methods. The ultimate framework of
shaping, organizing and performance of the system and the relationships among subsystems and
their contribution to meeting a common goal and environmental factors that operate on a system
shall be discussed in detail in sub-topics below.

2.1 DATA GATHERING METHODOLOGIES

Methodology refers to the systematic investigation of an issue to collect important data (Peters &
Mullis 1997). According to Moyo, Wadesango and Kurebwa (2012) methodology is a plan that
shows how a researcher intends to fulfil the goal of a proposed project. This seems to imply an
approach involves a systematic planning which also involves the understanding of how
knowledge of a phenomenon is discovered. In a bid to reach the required sample while
enhancing a reliable generalization of results quantitative data collection technique was used.
Data collection methods used to collect quantitative research data, and the results were
dependent on the large sample size of stakeholders. There are many methods to collect
quantitative data however interviews with structured questionnaires were used for offline data
collection. Purposive sampling was used to reap quality data that gives precise results. Therefore,
it is important to ensure that the data collected is of good quality to provide insightful and
actionable insights. Sampling and interviews shall be described below on how they were applied
to the project.

SAMPLING
Participants for this project were selected using purposive sampling. It is a non-probability
sampling procedure in which the project manager purposely chooses participants who are
relevant to the project (Blair, Dickie & Kelly, 2008). The school head, deputy head, (TIC)
Teacher in charge, senior teacher and the School development committee chairperson were the
participants of the project who were rich in information needed and they were all from
Mushimbo Primary.
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INTERVIEWS
Interviewing people is a standard method used for data collection. However, the interviews
conducted to collect quantitative data were more structured, whereby the interviewer asked only
a standard set of questionnaires and nothing more than that. Face-to-face interviews were
conducted and has proven to be effective since data collected directly from the participants.
Interviews helped in acquiring quality data as it provided a scope to ask detailed questions and
probing further to collect rich and informative data. Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing
(CAPI) was used to carry out the interviews, the interviewer carries a laptop along with him at
the time of interview to upload the data obtained from the interview directly into the database.
CAPI saves a lot of time in updating and processing the data and also makes the entire process
paperless as the interviewer does not carry a bunch of papers and questionnaires.

ADVANTAGE
Structured interviews are carefully worded questions structured to obtain valuable data.
Structured interview questions are generally specific and are well structured to obtain correct
responses. This is a good example of a qualitative tool of data collection. In a structured
interview, personal and more complicated questions can be discussed more easily. In this project
structured interviews were used. The same questions are asked to all respondents with the same
wording and the same sequence (Deaton, 1997). The reason for using structured interviews was
to allow the same context for the interviewees. This means that all interviewee receives the same
stimulus as any other. The goal was that the responses of interviewees can be aggregated and
thus easy to analyze. Moyo, Wadesango & Kurebwa (2012) maintains that, the strength of
structured interview is that the researcher has control over the topics and format of the interview.
This is so because a detailed interview guide is always used to solicit information.

DISADVANTAGES
Epps, (1969) asserts that, structured interviews can be time consuming if not properly managed.
Structured interviews need well qualified and highly trained interviewer. If it is randomly
conducted data collected can be misleading. Loftland and Loftland, (1995) outline that in a
structured interview; the flexibility involved can lead to inconsistencies in data. A lot of data can
be collected which requires systematic arrangement and analysis. In this project face to face
interviews conducted while the Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) was used.
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2.2 DESCRIPTION OF EXISTING SYSTEM
Manual system is a bookkeeping system where records are maintained by hand, without using a
computer system (www.accountingtools...). According to Winston (2007) manual system is a
bookkeeping system that does not utilize computer software for entering or storing records.
Therefore, manual or traditional system is a system whereby information is recorded by a pen in
a book without any computer assistance. There was a manual system whereby learners’ social
records were stored in exercise books, each class having its own social record book. The existing
system was found with severe weaknesses which made the school authorities to be concerned
hence push for the learners’ social management system. The weaknesses found on the manual
system were beyond the school management’s control.

2.3 ACTIVITY DIAGRAM

The project comprised a number of interrelated activities which are all necessary and must be
precisely delineated and coordinated in order to complete the project successfully. An activity
may be defined as any task which shall have a clearly defined start and a clearly defined end
point. The duration of every activity shall be forecasted assuming normal circumstances. Below
is an activity plan for the project.

Task name Duration Start Finish Resource name

Prototype design 2 days 03/08/20 04/08/20 Charana B
Purchasing materials 3 days 05/08/20 07/08/20 Charana B
Manufacture of prototype 3 days 11/08/20 13/08/20 Charana B
Design a database 1 day 14/08/20 14/08/20 Charana B
Design user interface 1 day 15/08/20 15/08/20 Charana B
Create codes 2 days 18/08/20 19/08/20 Charana B
Initial production run 3 days 11/08/20 13/08/20 Charana B
Staff training 1 day 14/08/20 14/08/20 Charana B
Staff input on prototype 1 day 15/08/20 15/08/20 Charana B
Documentation 1 day 18/08/20 19/08/20 Charana B
2.4 DATA FLOW DIAGRAM (CONTEXT AND DETAILED)
Data flow Diagrams (DFD) provide a graphical representation of how information moves
between processes in a system. Data Flow Diagrams are partitioned into low levels hacking more
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information and functional elements. Levels in DFD are numbered 0, 1, 2 or beyond. In this
project three levels used are Level 1 DFD, Level 2 DFD and Level 3 DFD.

LEVEL 0 DFD
It is also known as context diagram, it is designed to be an abstraction view, showing the system
as a single process with its relationship to external entities. It represents the entire system as a
single bubble with input and output data indicated by incoming and outgoing arrows. Fig 2.4.1
shows level 0 DFD.

LEVEL 1 DFD
The Data Flow Diagram in level one, context diagram is decomposed into multiple processes. In
this level main functions of the system were highlighted and high level processes of level 0 DFD

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were broken down into sub processes. Fig 2.4.2 shows level 1 DFD.

LEVEL 2 DFD
Data Flow Diagram in level 2 goes one step deeper into parts of level 1 DFD. It was used to plan

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necessary details about the system’s functionality. Fig 2.4.3 shows level 2 DFD.

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The most important thing about Data Flow Diagram is that they keep the program organized and
assist the programmer to plan exactly how the new system is going to accomplish its intended
goals.

2.5 WEAKNESS OF EXISTING SYSTEM

The manual system of keeping learners social records which was in use had severe weaknesses
which were out of control to the school authorities. The manual system is constituted by the use
of exercise books as means of storing learners’ social records. The system had weaknesses which
included the lack of privacy, hard to make changes, prone to damage and not reliable as it can be
misplaced and can take up a lot of space. The weaknesses named above shall be described below
on how they were affecting the school.
1. Lack of privacy, the system was not secure enough to guarantee privacy since anyone could
easily access the book. Learners’ confidential records were no longer private as any unauthorized
person could access the social record book without permission from relevant authorities.
2. Hard to make changes, the manual system cannot be updated once the information is entered
unless buying a new book or rubbing. Since errors are very common with humans, buying a new
book could be more expensive and rubbing could result in dirty and unfriendly contents.
3. Prone to damage, the use of exercise books is not reliable as it can be misplaced any time and
can be easily destroyed easily in case of hiding evidence.
4. Space, a special space reserved for storing social record books was needed. Since the school is
big this ended up taking a lot of office space.

2.6 JUSTIFICATION OF ALTERNATIVE TAKEN

Having satisfied with the use of computers as contemporary technology, the Learners’ Social
Management System addressed all weaknesses from the system which was in use. The system
has a tight security feature in the form of passwords and usernames to its users thereby allowing
only authorized users. Teachers will be able to login using passwords and usernames in order to
retrieve, update or to make a new entry. However, only administrators will be able to perform
more advanced operations and configurations like changing user passwords and usernames etc.

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The system is flexible enough to accommodate changes where necessary using the edit, delete
and update buttons. In case there will be a need for a learner’s records the system has a print
button which allows the user to produce a hard copy of selected copies,

2.7 REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS

The Learners’ Social Management System is at the low level, system and integration
requirements. A detailed description of each and every requirement was elaborated using case
diagram objects. Two types of relationship in a use case diagrams used are the association
between a user and a use case and the include relationship between two use cases. The use case

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diagram below serve as a basis for the estimating, scheduling and validating effort.

The category of users described below, identify all roles played by the users/administrators
relevant to the system to achieve system goals.

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Recording System Requirements
Social management This case describes how a user can login into the system and use
the social recording system facility.

The user can see a dashboard with the following options, add new,
search and update. He can add, search or update learner’s details
and then save or print.

The users starting this use case are teachers or any administrator.

Advanced settings This use case describes how any administrator can login and use
the learners’ social recording system facility.

The administrator can see a dashboard with the option to add a

new user or to delete and security settings in which he can change
passwords and user names.

The administrator can also login as a user using a default password

and a username and perform operations of a user.

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CHAPTER THREE

SYSTEM DESIGN
3.1 PROPOSED SYSTEMS DFDS
The Learner’s Social Management System is composed of three Data Flow Diagrams. All data-
flow diagrams were composed of the same type of symbols, and the validation rules
are the same for all DFDs, there are three main types of data-flow diagrams namely Level 0
DFD, Level 1 and Level 2 DFD. Data-flow diagrams provide a very important tool for software
engineering, for a number of reasons to include the system scope and boundaries which are
clearly indicated on the diagrams and the technique of decomposition of high level data-flow
diagrams to a set of more detailed diagrams, provides an overall view of the complete system, as
well as a more detailed breakdown and description of individual activities, where this is
appropriate, for clarification and understanding.

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3.2 ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
The architecture of a system describes its major components, their relationships (structures), and
how they interact with each other. Architectural design includes several contributory factors such
as quality attributes, human dynamics, design, and IT environment, shown in the diagram below.

Software Architecture and Design is into two distinct phases: Software Architecture and
Software Design. In Architecture, nonfunctional decisions were cast and separated by the
functional requirements. In Design, functional requirements were accomplished. The two are
described in detail below.
SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE
Software Architecture serves as a blueprint for the Learner’s Social Management System. It
provides an abstraction to manage the system complexity and establish a communication and
coordination mechanism among components. It defines a structured solution to meet all the
technical and operational requirements, while optimizing the common quality attributes like
performance and security. It also involves a set of significant decisions about Mushimbo Primary
School related to software development and each of these decisions can have a considerable

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impact on quality, maintainability, performance, and the overall success of the final product. The
decisions made comprise of:
o Selection of structural elements and their interfaces by which the system is composed.
o Behaviour as specified in collaborations among those elements.
o Composition of these structural and behavioural elements into large subsystem.
o Architectural decisions aligned with Mushimbo Primary objectives.
o Architectural styles that guide Mushimbo Primary.
SOFTWARE DESIGN
Software design provides a design plan that describes the elements of the Learner’s Social
Management System, how they fit, and work together to fulfill the requirement of the system.
The objectives of having a design plan were as follows:

 To negotiate system requirements, and to set expectations of the school.

 Act as a blueprint during the development process.
 Guide the implementation tasks, including detailed design, coding, integration, and
testing.

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The diagram below illustrate the Software Design for the Learner’s Social Management System.

3.3 MENU DESIGN

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3.4 INPUT DESIGN

3.5 OUTPUT DESIGN

3.6 PROCESS DESIGN

3.7 DATABASE DESIGN

3.8 PROGRAM DESIGN

3.9 TEST DATA DESIGN

3.10 SECURITY AND BACKUP DESIGN

3.11 TEST DATA DESIGN

3.12 DEPLOYMENT DIAGRAM

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