DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ATTENDANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Background of the Study
In many institutions, and academic organizations, attendance is a very important criterion which is used for various purposes. These purposes include record keeping, assessment of students, and promotion of optimal and consistent attendance in class. In developing countries, a minimum percentage of class attendance is required in most institutions and this policy has not been adhered to, because of the various challenges the present method of taking attendance presents. This traditional method involves the use of sheets of paper or books in taking student attendance. This method could easily allow for impersonation and the attendance sheet could be stolen or lost. Taking of attendance is time consuming and it is difficult to ascertain the number of students that have made the minimum percentage and thus eligible for exam. Thus, there is a need for a system that would eliminate all of these trouble spots.
An attendance management system using biometrics would provide the needed solution. An attendance management system is a software developed for daily student attendance in schools and institutions. It facilitates access to the attendance of a particular student in a particular class. This system will also help in generating reports and evaluating the attendance eligibility of a student.
Rather than signing an attendance sheet, individuals will pass their thumb over the fingerprint scanner, the finger print is compared against a list of pre-registered users, and once a match is made, the individual will be registered as having attended that lecture.
The paper discusses related works in the problem domain; highlights the general overview of the proposed system; details design considerations of the system, both at the hardware and software level; discusses the operation and how the system was tested in conformity to system design and functional objectives; concludes the observations made; and makes recommendations for future improvement.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The traditional system is still mostly used in lecture room or examination hall in most institution today. Lecturer or instructor will give out a sheet of paper containing list of student’s name to sign or in some cases, the student will be the ones to write their names, student id and matriculation number to indicate their presence for a particular class. Falsification in student attendance does occur rampantly in the traditional method.