CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

This chapter presents the introduction to counseling management system. It covers the introduction, theoretical background, aim and objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, organization of the research and definition of terms.

1.1 Theoretical Background

Counseling is a form of education, which the students receive from their counselors. The essence of incorporating guidance and counseling into the school system was to eliminate overwhelming ignorance of many young people on their choices of career prospects and personality maladjustment among school children. The role of ICT in guidance can be seen in three ways: as a tool, as an alternative, or as an agent of change. The growth of websites and help lines as forms of technically mediated service delivery means that the potential of ICT as a change agent is now greater than ever before. The telephone, websites and e-mail, alongside face-to-face facilities, could be alternative services; or they could be portals into a wide, flexible and well-harmonized network of services. The essence of incorporating guidance and counseling into the school system was to eliminate overwhelming ignorance of many young people on their choices of career prospects and personality maladjustment among school children. Based on these and more, career officers and counselors were appointed to take the responsibilities in sensitizing students on the needs for effective career choice.  However, it is important to develop a system that can be used in the absence of human experts and this has given rise to the adoption of artificial intelligence in guidance and counseling.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The following problems were identified in the counseling system of Ritman College:

1. There is no automated system for guidance and counseling
2. It is time consuming and cumbersome to manage counseling records.
3. It is difficult to manually determine if a student is fit for a science or arts career.

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is to develop a counseling management system for secondary school. The following are the specific objectives of the study

1. To design and implement an automated career guidance and counseling .
2. To capture the O level courses grades of students in order to determine if they are fit for a science or arts career.
3. To design a system that will maintain a database of counseling records.

1.4 Significance of the Study

The significance of the study is that it will provide an automated system for guidance and counseling. It will help in determining of a student is fit for a science career or not. The research study will also be significant to other scholars seeking for information pertaining the subject.

1.5 Scope of the Study

This study covers Counseling management system for secondary school (A case study of Ritman College, Ikot Ekpene). It is limited to counseling based on choice of career (Science or Arts) using O level grades as a criteria for evaluation.

1.6 Organization of the Research

This research work is organized into five chapters. Chapter one is concerned with the introduction of the research study and it presents the preliminaries, theoretical background, statement of the problem, aim and objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, organization of the research and definition of terms.

Chapter two focuses on the literature review, the contributions of other scholars on the subject matter is discussed.

Chapter three is concerned with the system analysis and design. It analyzes the present system to identify the problems and provides information on the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed system. The system design is also presented in this chapter.

Chapter four presents the system implementation and documentation. The choice of programming language, analysis of modules, choice of programming language and system requirements for implementation.

Chapter five focuses on the summary, conclusion and recommendations are provided in this chapter based on the study carried out.

1.7 Definition of Terms

Artificial Intelligence : A branch of computer science that develops programs to allow machines to perform functions normally requiring human intelligence

Career – A job or occupation regarded as a long-term or lifelong activity. The general path or progress taken by somebody or something

Counseling – Help with personal or psychological matters usually given by a professional

Expert System– A computer program that applies artificial-intelligence methods to problem-solving

Guidance – Advice or counseling, especially counseling given to students on academic matters.