A MOBILE BASED LEAVE APPLICATION (M-LA) FOR GOVERNMENT

INSTITUTIONS: THE CASE OF THE TEACHERS SERVICE COMMISION OF

KENYA

By: Benard Kipkoech

Supervisor: Dr. Everlyne Makhanu

M-LA

This is a mobile based system that is used

by teachers to apply for leave.

Introduction

Creation, maintenance and retrieval of

info is important in government

institutions

E-government and m-government

adopted to enhance data management

and service delivery

Research finds out if a mobile phone can

be used for leave management

Problem Statement

Slow leave processing (up to 30 days)

Manual inefficient system used to handle

many users

Data analysis is hard

Less access to computers and internet in

rural areas to facilitate e-government

Objectives

Identify the process used by TSC in

managing leave

Design and develop a mobile app that can

be used to apply for leave

Test the effectiveness of M-LA in leave

management.

Literature reviewEvolution of government services

Challenges facing adoption of

e-government Poor infrastructure especially in rural

areas (computers, internet electricity)

Skill inadequacy

High cost of setting up a reputable e-

government system

Importance of m-government

reduction in cost,

Increased efficiency

Extra convenience and increased flexibility

More reliable services to the citizens and

ability to reach a larger number of people

Teacher’s Service Commission

The TSC is an Independent government

Commission established under

the Constitution by an Act of Parliament

(Cap 212) of the Laws of Kenya in 1967

TSC functions to register trained teachers;

to recruit and employ registered

teachers;

to assign teachers employed by the

Commission for service in any public

school or institution;

to promote and transfer teachers;

to exercise disciplinary control over

teachers; and

Procedure for leave application

An application form obtained from the

TSC’s website is completed in triplicate

and the copies distributed as follows:-

The original copy will be forwarded to

TSC by The County Director.

The duplicate copy will be retained in the

office of The County Director

The triplicate copy will be retained in the

institution

TSC and M-LA

With M-LA, communication between the

top management and teachers will be a

two way interaction with the help of a

mobile phone. Teachers can apply for

leave through M-LA and data posted

directly to the responsible personnel

System design

This model application was implemented

using, Java Micro Edition for mobile

phones, php/html web application

framework, windows operating system,

MySQL as a Relational Database

Management System (RDBMS)

User interface

Research design

Developed framework

Research findings

distribution by education

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Degree and above Certificate Other

Distribution by level of education

Number of people who have applied

for leave

80%

20%

Number of People who have applied for leave

Yes No

How teachers apply for leave

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Manually Electronically

Acceptability of current systemStrongly

agree

Agree Disagree Strongly

Disagree

Total

Procedure used to apply

for leave Frequency

(N)39 15 68 142 264

% Frequency

14.77% 5.68% 25.76% 53.79% 100%

Speed of processing

of leaveFrequency

(N)12 24 70 158 264

% Frequency

4.54% 9.09% 26.52% 59.85% 100%

Average 25.5 19.5 69 150 264

Percentage

9.66% 7.39% 26.14% 56.82% 100.00%

TSC employees with internet

enabled phones

68%

32%

people with internet enabled phones

Yes No

Acceptability of M-LA

acceptability Frequency Percent

Strongly Acceptable 140 53.03

Acceptable 62 23.48

Unacceptable 33 12.50

Strongly Unacceptable 29 10.98

Total 264 100.0

Findings and conclusions

Many TSC staff have internet enabled

phones

Teachers are not happy with the current

system

Teachers can accept the introduction of

M-LA because of; ease of use, speed, cost

and availability

M-LA can therefore be introduced in TSC

Mobile app user screen shots

Login and main menu screens

Leave application

Admin interface

Thank you