SAAMS – Schools Academic Affairs Management System User Manual

SAAMS – Schools Academic Affairs Management System User Manual

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SAAMS

Schools Academic Affairs Management System

March 2005

Contact: TOF Engineers & Consulting Ltd.: 56 Femi Ayantuga Crescent, Off Adelabu Street Surulere, Lagos. P.O. Box 4629 GPO Marina, Lagos. Tel: 0803-3045117 E-mail taofeek_99@hotmail.com, softprotof@hotmail.com

1 Introduction to SAAMS 6

1.1 Key features of SAAMS 6

1.2 Guideline to this document 7

2 SAAMS Concepts 8

2.1.1 Class, Term and Year 8

2.1.2 Security Profiling: User – Instructor (Teachers) Mappings 8

3 Installing SAAMS 9

3.1 Installing as a Single User 9

3.2 Installing for Multiuser operation 9

3.2.1 Installing on the Server 9

3.2.2 Installing Client\Front End components 10

3.3 Starting SAAMS 10

3.3.1 Registering SAAMS data source – Microsoft Access Database Host Version 10

3.3.2 Setting the photograph directory 11

3.3.3 Registering SAAMS data source – SQL-Server 2005 Version 11

3.3.4 Registering the Local data source – SQL-Server 2005 Version 12

3.3.5 Registering the photographs directory – SQL-Server 2005 Version 13

3.3.6 Specifying results processing mode of operation– SQL-Server 2005 Version 13

3.4 Specifying or Changing Your Password 14

4 System Administration 15

4.1 Registering Data Source And Setting the Photograph Directory – Standard Version 15

4.1.1 To Register SAAMS data source 15

4.1.2 To set the photograph directory 16

4.2 Registering Data Source And Setting the Photograph Directory – SQL-Server 2005 Version 16

4.2.1 Registering the Local data source – SQL-Server 2005 Version 17

4.2.2 Registering the photographs directory – SQL-Server 2005 Version 17

4.2.3 Specifying results processing mode of operation– SQL-Server 2005 Version 18

4.3 Users and Privileges 18

4.3.1 To create a new user account 18

4.3.2 To remove a user account 19

4.3.3 To clear a user’s password 19

4.3.4 Set User Security Level 19

4.3.5 Set Module Access Level 19

4.4 Instructors Users Mappings 19

4.4.1 To map and instructor to a user account 19

4.5 Audit Trail 20

4.6 Backup (Microsoft Access Database Version) 20

4.7 Restore (Microsoft Access Database Version) 21

4.8 Backup and Restore in SQL-Server 2005 Version 21

5 Configuring SAAMS with Operational Data 22

6 Using SAAMS 24

6.1 Instructors and Teachers Information 25

6.1.1 To add information on a new instructor\teacher\staff 25

6.1.2 To modify existing staff details 25

6.1.3 To delete existing staff information, 25

6.2 Students Information 26

6.2.1 To add information on a new student 26

6.2.2 To modify existing student’s details 26

6.2.3 To delete existing student’s information, 26

6.3 Class Registration 27

6.3.1 To register a student in the class 27

6.3.2 To move students to next term of current year 28

6.3.3 To move a student from one class to another during a term of a year 28

6.3.4 To specify the Class Teacher\Class Instructor for the class. 28

6.3.5 To print or preview reports on class registers 28

6.3.6 To register a student in a House, Club or Society 28

6.3.7 To set Students’ Status 29

6.4 Subjects Registration 30

6.4.1 To register subjects taken by a class 30

6.4.2 To set the Mandatory Minimum No of Subjects to be taken by students in a class 30

6.5 Classes Time Tables 31

6.5.1 To specify the time tab le for a class for a term of a year 31

6.6 Class Assessments Formulae 32

6.6.1 What do we mean by the Assessment Formulae? 32

6.6.2 Who is responsible to define it for each class 32

6.6.3 To define the Assessment Formulae for a class 33

6.6.4 To define Assessment Formula for a subject of a class 33

7 Assignments and Exams 34

7.1 Registering Assignments and Recording the Results 34

7.1.1 To Register Assignments for a class 34

7.1.2 To change the details of an existing assignment of a class 35

7.1.3 To remove the details of an assignment 36

7.1.4 Recording Results of an Assignment 37

7.1.5 To confirm the results of an assignment 37

7.2 Assignments Results Processing: 38

7.2.1 What do we mean by Assignment Results Processing Formula? 38

7.2.2 To define Assignments Results Processing Formulae for a class 39

8 Students Results Processing 41

8.1 End of Term Results Processing 41

8.1.1 To Process End of Term Results for subjects 41

8.1.2 To Preview or Print End Of Term Results for selected subject 41

8.1.3 To view detailed results of student 41

8.1.4 To obtain Overall Students Averages and Positions 42

8.2 Direct Entry of End of Term Results 43

8.2.1 To Enter End Of Term Results Directly 43

8.3 Promotions Management 44

8.3.1 Promoting Students to Next Class of the Next Year (Session) 44

9 Enquiries and Reports 45

9.1.1 Instructors\Teachers\Staff Register Reports 45

9.1.2 Classes Reports 45

9.1.3 Students Reports 46

9.1.4 Subjects and Assignments Reports 47

9.1.5 Advanced Enquiries and Reports 48

10 Reporting and School Fees Management 49

10.1 Reporting Facilities 49

10.1.1 To print reports for the class 49

10.1.2 To print reports of a student in a class 50

10.2 School Fees Management 50

10.3 School Charge Codes 51

10.4 Financial Instruments 52

10.5 School Fees Templates and Details 52

10.6 Generate School Fees Invoices for students in a class of a term of a session 54

10.7 Charging Students Account with Payments or School Fees Charges 54

10.8 Students Accounts Balance Management 56

10.8.1 If all students are in the same class next term 56

10.8.2 If a student is in a different class next term. 56

11 Appendix 58

Important Information

When using SAAMS you must be mindful of the following.

  • SAAMS transactions require correct Term and Year.
  • Make sure you read the messages you are prompted with and provide judicious responses to them. Respond with a safe choice if you are doubtful and then seek advice.
  • Make sure that you specify a password for your username to prevent another user operating with your user name.
  • Make sure you backup regularly to protect against loss of data and make recovery after a loss less costly. Do backups regularly via “SAAMS Backup” icon.

Introduction to SAAMS

SAAMS (Schools Academic Affairs Management System) is designed to manage students’ registers, subjects’ registers, assignments and results and general assessment of students in a regular secondary school. Plans exist for versions for primary, private and higher institutions of learning and extension for school fees and payments.

SAAMS come in 2 versions:

  • SAAMS Standard, which uses Microsoft Access Database as the data host
  • SAAMS On SQL-Server Express 2005, which employs SQL-Server 2005 engine as data host.

Key features of SAAMS

The interface shown below illustrates the features available in SAAMS

SAAMS is developed in Microsoft Visual Basic, Microsoft Access front-end modules and SQL-Server 2005 Database host. It is network ready with multi-user capability and client server configuration, and is designed to manage any size hotel. SAAMS software suite comprises two front-end modules, a database host module and a security file that manages and control user access to data.

You manage the following with SAAMS;

  • Instructors or Teachers Information, including photographs.
  • Students Information, including photographs.
  • Class Registers.
  • Subjects Register of Classes.
  • Classes Time Tables.
  • Assignments Assessment formulae.
  • Assignments and Exam Results.
  • Results processing formulae.
  • Results Processing for End of Term (incorporating End of Year averages)
  • Promotions Management.
  • School Fees Management
  • Enquiries and Reporting.
  • Systems Administration for auditing, security profiling of users and backup.
  • Users Password management
  1. SQL-Server 2005 database platform to leverage client\server features, speed of operation and reliability.
  2. Front-End modules in Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0, Microsoft Access 2000\XP, connected to SQL-Server database hot via ODBC and OLEDB.

Guideline to this document

This document describes how to use SAAMS. It will, however, be valid for versions that would have been tailored to your environment. Furthermore, the words interfaces and forms are both computing terminologies describing the visual displays on the screen that users interact with; they will be used freely and interchangeably in the document.

To quickly grasp the concepts and procedures presented in this document, it is recommended you initiate a session of SAAMS on the computer in parallel to studying this document.

SAAMS Concepts

Class, Term and Year

SAAMS manages information for a Class in a Term of a Year. This is the normal approach to processing information in schools and you will therefore notice on most forms\interfaces in SAAMS that the term and year (year session begins) that you are working with is displayed at the top right hand of the interface. You will generally be required to select the class that you want to work with.

Security Profiling: User – Instructor (Teachers) Mappings

SAAMS provides 3 levels of security to enable you tailor functionality to each user’s schedule.

Login Level: Users are created to access SAAMS and each user in assigned a security level, which determines the type of operations (additions, modifications, deletions) that can be performed on data.

Security Level ID Security Level
0 None
1 Supervisory
2 Administration
3 Senior Instructors\Teachers
4 Junior Instructors\Teachers
5 IT\NYSC Staff
6 Guest

Module Access Level: Each can be configured to access specific modules representing the respective schedules. For example, a user (or an instructor\teacher) can be given access to enter results of the assignments and exams of the subjects that he\she is responsible.

Information Access Level: Each user (instructor\teacher) is profiled in such a way that he\she can enter and process assignments results for only the subjects (and related assignments and exams) that they are responsible. This security profiling is defined through the Instructor User Mapping module.

Installing SAAMS

Installing as a Single User

  1. Insert installation cd labelled SAAMS Full Version into the cd drive. Installation should start automatically and display interface below.
    • If the installation does not start up automatically, open the cd contents and double-click setup.exe.

  1. Click Ok. This displays the interface below.
  2. Click Change Directory and change the directory to install SAAMS to c:\zsaams, for convenience.
  3. Click the button indicated on the top left hand corner to install SAAMS to the specified destination directory.
    • You will be prompted to create the destination directory specified in step 3 if it does not exist
    • If the destination directory exists you will be prompted to keep each existing file that will be replaced by the installation. Respond by clicking No To All to avoid prompting for every file that must be replaced.
    • Ignore any error resulting from copying files (usually support file).

  1. On completion of the installation SAAMS will be registered on the Programs menu bar on the Start bar.
  2. You can send the short cut on to your desk top by right clicking the icon under the SAAMS group and select Send To >> Desktop. The icon should be displayed on your desktop.

Installing for Multiuser operation

Installing on the Server

Insert the CD labelled SAAMS Full Version into your cdrom drive on your server and follow the Steps 1 to 6 in the previous section.

Installing Client\Front End components

Install the CD labelled SAAMS Client Version into your cdrom drive on your workstation and follow the Steps 1 to 6 in the previous section.

Starting SAAMS

  1. Select SAAMS from the SAAMS menu on the programs menu bar or
  2. OR Double Click SAAMS icon on the desktop (you should have created the shortcut on the desktop).
  3. Enter you user name; which is also called user account:
    • Enter sysadmin if this is the first time you log in.
  4. Enter your password, if you have a password for your user account.
  5. Click Login (or press Enter on the keyboard).
  6. The main interface is displayed as depicted below.

Registering SAAMS data source – Microsoft Access Database Host Version

The first time you start SAAMS after installation you may experience errors and messages indicating that the data source (or data sources) required by SAAMS cannot be found. This usually means SAAMS data source(s) is not properly registered for connection by the client front ends (usually this registration would have be done automatically if you installed as a single user or on the server). This problem may also be experienced if the data source has been moved to a different location since the last time you ran SAAMS. In the case of multi-user operation, the problem will always be experienced the first time you start SAAMS on a workstation after installation.

In each case you must specify the location of your database to register the datasource. The database will usually be located in the directory Database in the installation directory (i.e. c:\zsaams\Database). The interface to do this (depicted below) will be displayed when the problem occurs (or you can get at it by clicking System Administration >> Register Datasource)

  1. Select the location of the data source (on local computer if you are on the server OR on a computer on the network if you are on a workstation on the network).
    1. Select the Drive
    2. Navigate, locate and select the folder\directory containing the database
  2. Click Connect to establish connection with the source of data. You will be prompted appropriately that you have now established connection with the database.

Setting the photograph directory

You also use this interface to set the photographs directory where you must store all the photographs and images that you will use in SAAMS.

  1. Select the directory to store photos and images to use in SAAMS (on local computer if you are on the server or on a computer on the network if you are on a workstation on the network)
    1. Select the Drive
    2. Navigate, locate and select the folder\directory
  2. Click Set to set the photo directory for your workstation. You will be prompted appropriately that you have set the folder.

These procedures must be repeated on every workstation on the network where SAAMS will be running, since they all will share the same data source on the server. The folder on server where the data and photos would be stored should have been mapped with an appropriate drive letter (e.g. h:) from each workstation.

Registering SAAMS data source – SQL-Server 2005 Version

Registering the data source for SAAMS on SQL Express 2005 is a slightly different procedure. The interface below shows where to perform the tasks.

  1. Click Register Datasource from System Administration module interface.
  2. Select the directory\folder where the SAAMS SQL-Server files and the Security file are located, then click Connect.
  3. Using the ODBC administrator create\register a data source called ZSTUDENTS using SQL-Server ODBC driver (Your can do this either from Windows Administrative Tools in Control panel OR by clicking Register SQL-Server DSN on the interface above).

Important: DO NOT USE SQL Native Client ODBC driver. This seems to cause unexpected results during addition of data in SAAMS. Resolution of the compatibility issues is currently being investigated and clients will be advised when resolved.

  1. Select the DSN name ZSTUDENTS. (Important. SAAMS requires the DSN name to be ZSTUDENTS. SAAMS will not run is it does not find the DSN with this name)
  2. Click Connect. You will be asked to log in with a user name SAAMS (leave the password blank).
  3. You will be prompted appropriately when the connection process completes.

Registering the Local data source – SQL-Server 2005 Version

The local data source in this context is the Reporting and School Fees module; which is a separate program through which you perform general reporting tasks and processing students school fees. One major feature of this module is that you can print students and teachers reports with photographs displayed. You can launch it separately or from within SAAMS.

  1. Click Register Local Data source from System Administration module interface.
  2. Select the directory or folder where the module is located (typically in the folder where SAAMS client programs was installed.
  3. Click Connect.

Registering the photographs directory – SQL-Server 2005 Version

You also use this interface to set the photographs directory where you must store all the photographs and images that you will use in SAAMS.

  1. Click Set Photographs Directory from System Administration module interface.
  2. Select the directory to store photos and images to use in SAAMS (on local computer if you are on the server or on a computer on the network if you are on a workstation on the network)
    1. Select the Drive
    2. Navigate, locate and select the folder\directory
  3. Click Set to set the photo directory for your workstation. You will be prompted appropriately that you have set the folder.

Specifying results processing mode of operation– SQL-Server 2005 Version

You specify the approach to entry and processing of students results from here. The options are

  • Direct Entry of Results where the overall marks for each student on each subject is entered at end of term
  • Full Entry mode, where assignments would have been entered during the term.

  1. Click Results Processing Mode from System Administration module interface.
  2. Click the appropriate mode. DIRECT ENTRY IS THE DEFAULT.

Specifying or Changing Your Password

Before you continue working with SAAMS it is recommended that you specify your password for your user account. This is one function every user (user account) of SAAMS can perform. Since passwords are secret to the user, even the system administrator should not be aware of other users’ password. The system administrator(s) can only clear this password if the user forgets it, so clearing it will allow the user to specify another one.

The procedure for specifying or changing your password is simple.

  1. Click “Password” on the main interface.
  2. On the resulting enter your Old Password in the appropriate field. Leave blank if you do not have a password or you are specifying one for the first time.
  3. Enter your new password in the filed labelled “New Password”
  4. Enter the new password again in the field labelled “Verify”
  5. Click “Click To Set New Password”.
  6. You will be prompted if the New Password and the Verify do not match exactly. You must re-enter both again to ensure registration of the password.

The next time you log on to SAAMS you must specify your new password to gain access.

System Administration

SAAMS system administration functions are grouped into a sub-module labelled System Administration on the main interface. It provides for security and user profiling functions as well as audit trailing, backup administration and registration of data source. A user must have system administration privileges to access these functions.

Click System Administration on the main interface. This displays the interface below.

Registering Data Source And Setting the Photograph Directory – Standard Version

This provides the means to connect/reconnect to SAAMS data source via ODBC. You use it if the location has been moved to another directory on your workstation or to a different computer on the network (Note that these topics were dealt with in the previous chapter).

To Register SAAMS data source

  1. Click Register Data source on the System Administration interface.

  1. Select the location of the data source (on local computer if you are on the server or on a computer on the network if you are on a workstation on the network).
    1. Select the Drive
    2. Navigate, locate and select the folder\directory
  2. Click Connect to establish connection with the source of data. You will be prompted appropriately that you have now established connection with the database.

Also you use this interface to set the photographs directory where you must store all the photographs and images that you will use in SAAMS.

To set the photograph directory

  1. Select the directory to store photos and images to use in SAAMS (on local computer if you are on the server or on a computer on the network if you are on a workstation on the network)
    1. Select the Drive
    2. Navigate, locate and select the folder\directory
  2. Click Set to set the photo directory for your workstation. You will be prompted appropriately that you have set the folder.

These procedures must be repeated on every workstation on the network where SAAMS will be running, since they all will share the same data source on the server. The folder on server where the data and photos would be stored should have been mapped with an appropriate drive letter (e.g. h:) from each workstation.

Registering Data Source And Setting the Photograph Directory – SQL-Server 2005 Version

Registering the data source for SAAMS on SQL Express 2005 is a slightly different procedure. The interface below shows where to perform the tasks.

  1. Click Register Data source from System Administration module interface.
  2. Select the directory\folder where the SAAMS SQL-Server files and the Security file are located, then click Connect.
  3. Using the ODBC administrator create a data source called ZSTUDENTS using SQL-Server ODBC driver (Your can do this from either Windows Administrative Tools in Control panel OR by clicking Register SQL-Server DSN on the interface above).

Important: DO NOT USE SQL Native Client ODBC driver. This seems to cause unexpected results during addition of data in SAAMS. Resolution of the compatibility issues is currently being investigated and clients will be advised when resolved.

  1. Select the DSN name ZSTUDENTS. (Important. SAAMS requires the DSN name to be ZSTUDENTS. SAAMS will not run is it does not find the DSN with this name)
  2. Click Connect. You will be asked to log in with a user name SAAMS (leave the password blank).
  3. You will be prompted appropriately when the connection process completes.

Registering the Local data source – SQL-Server 2005 Version

The local data source in this context is the Reporting and School Fees module; which is a separate program through which you perform general reporting tasks and processing students school fees. One major feature of this module is that you can print students and teachers reports with photographs displayed. You can launch it separately or from within SAAMS.

  1. Click Register Local Data source from System Administration module interface.
  2. Select the directory or folder where the module is located (typically in the folder where SAAMS client programs was installed.
  3. Click Connect.

Registering the photographs directory – SQL-Server 2005 Version

You also use this interface to set the photographs directory where you must store all the photographs and images that you will use in SAAMS.

  1. Click Set Photographs Directory from System Administration module interface.
  2. Select the directory to store photos and images to use in SAAMS (on local computer if you are on the server or on a computer on the network if you are on a workstation on the network)
    1. Select the Drive
    2. Navigate, locate and select the folder\directory
  3. Click Set to set the photo directory for your workstation. You will be prompted appropriately that you have set the folder.

Specifying results processing mode of operation– SQL-Server 2005 Version

You specify the approach to entry and processing of students results from here. The options are

  • Direct Entry of Results where the overall marks for each student on each subject is entered at end of term
  • Full Entry mode, where assignments would have been entered during the term.

  1. Click Results Processing Mode from System Administration module interface.
  2. Click the appropriate mode. DIRECT ENTRY IS THE DEFAULT.

Users and Privileges

This utility allows you to do the following

  • create new user accounts,
  • remove an existing user,
  • clear a user’s password (should the user forgets his/her password)
  • define the modules each user account can access and
  • specify the security level of each user account.

Click User and Privileges on the System Administration interface to display the User Accounts interface.

To create a new user account

  1. Click Add User
  2. Enter the name of the user account in the text box labelled User Name
  3. Click Save User to create the user and add to users list
  4. Click Finish to complete the process and enable buttons (e.g. Remove User & Clear User Password)

To remove a user account

  1. Select the user from the list and click Remove User.

To clear a user’s password

  1. Select the user from the list and then click Clear User Password

Set User Security Level

  1. Select the user from the list.
  2. Select the security level from the Security Level of User combo box.

Set Module Access Level

This allows you to grant individual user accounts access to SAAMS modules. The privileges you assign to users should depend on the division or distribution of work as regards your school. Once you create a user you must grant the user access to modules.

  1. Select the user from the list.
  2. Click to check the appropriate check boxes of all the modules you want the user to access on the Modules Accessible to User frame.
  3. Repeat step 2 for all users.

Steps 1-9 must be repeated for all the users of SAAMS you have created. In this way you can tailor access rights and privileges to suit your operational procedures as well as assign appropriate roles to the appropriate personnel operating SAAMS.

Instructors Users Mappings

As mentioned in an earlier chapter, SAAMS manages information on instructors, teachers and other academic and non-academic staff of a school. Furthermore, in SAAMS, each class is assigned a class teacher/instructor and each subject taught in a class has a particular instructor/teacher that teaches that subject for the class.

The need to ensure the integrity of students’ results and teachers assessment therefore dictates the need to focus responsibility each individual teacher/instructor as regards the subjects/classes they handle. SAAMS handles this situation by enforcing that only instructors/teachers that takes a subject/class has the authority to enter and modify students’ assignments and assessments results. That means only the Mathematics teacher for JS1 can enter and modify exams and continuous assessment results for JS1.

To enable this facility in SAAMS the following conditions must be satisfied.

  1. Details of all teachers\instructors that will handle students’ exams and assessments must be captured in SAAMS.
  2. Each must have a user account to log on to SAAMS.
  3. Each of the user accounts must be mapped (linked) to a teacher/instructor detail. This is done via the Instructors Users Mappings function in the System Administration module.

To map and instructor to a user account

  1. Click System Administration on the main interface
  2. Click Instructors Users Mappings. This displays the interface below.
  3. Select User Account.
  4. Select appropriate Teacher\Instructor
  5. Click Map. The mapping will appear on the list

To remove\break a mapping

  1. Double-click on the record of interest.

Note that you can only map a user account with one teacher\instructor and vice versa.

Audit Trail

The Audit Trail is a log of information on key activities providing an effective tool to monitor activities on SAAMS. It captures the activities of each operator and each log is stamped with a date and time the activity took place.

  1. Click Audit Trail. This displays an interface (below).
  2. To view uptodate activities, click “Refresh”.
  3. Click Exit to remove the interface.

Backup (Microsoft Access Database Version)

  1. Click Backup, to display interface below
  2. Select the Source Directory (Step 1)
  3. Select the Destination Directory (Step 2)
  4. Click Click Here To Backup.

The backup will be copied to the destination path with the name bkXXXXXX.mdb, were XXXXXX is the short date format for the current date (e.g.bk110305.mdb). Therefore, if a backup exists for the date you will be asked in step 4 to overwrite the existing backup or create a new one. If you avoid overwriting, the existing backup will be renamed (by post fixing with the current time) and a new backup created as bkXXXXXX.mdb.

Restore (Microsoft Access Database Version)

Restoring a backup is done via the Restore icon on your desktop. This facility is not available as a separate module and you access it from the folder you installed SAAMS and send it to the desktop.

  1. Double – click Restore SAAMS, on the desktop to display the interface above
  2. Specify Backup to Restore (Step 1)
  3. Specify the Destination Directory to restore the backup (Step 2)
  4. Click Click Here To Backup.
  5. The backup will be restored into the destination directory, overwriting existing data.

Backup and Restore in SQL-Server 2005 Version

The backup and restore procedures are for SAAMS standard version which used Microsoft Access database host. For SAAMS SQL-Server 2005 Version Backup, Restore and Shrink utilities will be performed via SQL Server 2005 Express management studio by your system administrator.

Configuring SAAMS with Operational Data

The Operational Data module is used to configure SAAMS with operational data, such as defining classes, instructor status, subjects and assignment grades. The interface is depicted and is obtained by clicking Operational Data on SAAMS main interface.

The following lists the operational data that need to be defined to configure SAAMS for your school.

  • Years
  • Terms
  • Term Periods
  • Class Levels
  • Classes
  • Subjects Categories
  • Assignment Categories
  • Time Table Periods
  • Instructors Status
  • Staff Category
  • Assessment Status
  • Student Status
  • Parental Status
  • Grades
  • Clubs & Societies
  • Relationships
  • Countries
  • States
  • Cities
  • Continents
  • Areas of Cities
  • Departments
  • Designations
  • Colours
  • Marital Status

In each case, click the required button and Add or Modify information as required. The interface below is where you specify the subjects (Click Subjects)

Using SAAMS

To use SAAMS for any useful work you should have done the following

  • Installed SAAMS on your computer and connected appropriately to the data source.
  • Created all user accounts that will use SAAMS and define profiles and privileges for each.
  • Configure SAAMS with operational data.

In this section, and subsequent ones, we will show how to use SAAMS to capture and manage school academic information. The following are what we deal with in this chapter

  • Instructors \ Teachers Information
  • Students Registration Information
  • Class Registration
  • Subjects Registration
  • Class Time Tables
  • Assessment Formulae

These are depicted on the main interface below.

Instructors and Teachers Information

Information on all academic and non-academic staff of the school is entered and managed through this module. The scope of information captured on each staff includes status of the personnel, designation, category, marital status, employment date, qualifications, commendations and disciplinary records as well as photograph of the teacher. These are depicted on the interface below.

  1. Click Instructor & Teachers on the main interface to display the interface below.

To add information on a new instructor\teacher\staff

  1. Click Add.
  2. Enter the details in appropriate text boxes. Select choices from combo boxes as in Marital Status and State of Origin
  3. If you have a photograph of the person you should have scanned it into the computer and saved it as a file name (eg. Bossmann.bmp) in SAAMS’s photgraph directory ,
    1. Click Insert Photo.
    2. Select the photograph file name via the Search for photo files dialog box
    3. Click Open. The photograph will be placed on the interface
  4. On completion click Update to save the information in the database.

To modify existing staff details

  1. Navigate to the record of interest using the navigation bar at the base of the form OR move directly to the record via Select Name From Register combo box at the top of the form.
  2. Click Modify.
  3. Change the relevant details on the appropriate text boxes or combo boxes.
  4. Click Update to save the information in the database.
  5. Click Cancel, to discard the information before you have saved it in the database i.e. before you click Update.

To delete existing staff information,

  1. Navigate to the record of interest as in Step 6.
  2. Click Delete.

Note that you will not be able to delete records of instructors\teachers who have performed activities, i.e. those who have taken a class or taught a subject. This ensures integrity of historical information.

Students Information

The Students Information module is where you register the details on all student of the school. The scope of information captured on each student includes name, date of birth, parental status, student’s category, registration date, bio-data, guardian’s information, commendations and disciplinary records as well as photograph of the student. These are depicted on the interface below.

  1. Click Students Information on the main interface to display the interface below.

To add information on a new student

  1. Click Add.
  2. Enter the details in appropriate text boxes. Select choices from combo boxes as in Student category or Sex.
  3. If you have a photograph of the student you should have scanned it into the computer and saved it as a file name (eg. Bossmann.bmp) in SAAMS’s photgraph directory ,
    1. Click Insert Photo.
    2. Select the photograph file name via the Search for photo files dialog box
    3. Click Open. The photograph will be placed on the interface
  4. On completion click Update to save the information in the database.

To modify existing student’s details

  1. Navigate to the record of interest using the navigation bar at the base of the form OR move directly to the record via Quick Students Search combo box at the top of the form.
  2. Click Modify.
  3. Change the relevant details on the appropriate text boxes or combo boxes.
  4. Click Update to save the information in the database.

While you are adding new information or modify existing details you may want to discard the information before you have saved it in the database i.e. before you click Update.

  1. Click Cancel.

To delete existing student’s information,

  1. Navigate to the record of interest as in Step 6.
  2. Click Delete.

Notes

  • Current Class cannot be entered or modified through this interface. It is determined by the class registration information.
  • Academic records are also determined by the historical information on the student’s academic assessments and not entered in this interface.
  • You will not be able to delete records of students who have performed activities, i.e. those who have at least been registered in a class. This ensures integrity of historical information.

Class Registration

After you have registered the details of all your students you must register each student into their respective classes. At this point the concept of class, term and year becomes central to operations.

All your operations from this point on will be performed for a class in a term of a year. You must always ensure you are operating in the right CLASS in the right TERM of the right YEAR. You will also notice that the term and year you selected at any point will (in most cases) become the active term and year on relevant interfaces until you change your selections.

  1. Click Class Registers on the main interface.
  2. Select a Class from the appropriately labelled combo box at the top left hand corner. This displays relevant information as depicted below.
  3. Select the Year and the Term, if current values are not correct.

To register a student in the class

  1. Select the Student
  2. Enter the no of subjects taken by the student in No Subjects
  3. Click Add. The student will be added to the class.
  4. Repeat these steps for all classes.

To move students to next term of current year

At the end of a term you will need to move all students to the next term (relative to the active term).

  1. Click Move Class To Next Term. This automatically registers all the students into the same class for the next term (Validate by selecting the next term to see the students registered).

Notes:

  • All subjects taken by the class are also moved to the next term of the year.
  • You cannot move to a term of the next year, movement must be within the year.

To move a student from one class to another during a term of a year

  1. Select the current class of the student.
  2. Locate the students record on the list
  3. Double-click the student’s record to remove it form current class.
  4. Select the new class to register the student.
  5. Select the student from Select Student.
  6. Enter the no of subjects taken by the student in No Subjects
  7. Click Add. The student will be added to the new class.

To specify the Class Teacher\Class Instructor for the class.

  1. Select the teacher\instructor from combo box labelled Class Teacher\ Instructor.
  2. Click Set.

To print or preview reports on class registers

  1. Click Preview to preview the class register on your screen.
  2. Click Print to print directly to the printer.
  3. Click Preview Registers of All Classes to preview the class register on your screen.
  4. Click Print Registers of All Classes to print directly to the printer.

To register a student in a House, Club or Society

  1. Click Clubs\House Registers on the main interface. This displays the interface below
  2. Select the Year.
  3. Select the Club\House\Society from top left hand corner. This displays the names of existing members on a list.
  4. Select the student from combo box below the list.
  5. Click Add. The student will be added as a member of the Club\House\Society
  6. Repeat from Step 4 to add additional members.
  7. Repeat from Step 3 to add members to another club\house\society
  8. To remove a member from the list, double click on the record and follow instructions.
  9. Click Preview to preview the members of the club\house on the screen or
  10. Click Print to print directly to the printer.
  11. You can print or preview registers of all clubs by clicking Preview Register of All Clubs or Print Register of All Clubs.

To set Students’ Status

From this facility you can set the status of the student. For example, students that have left the school or passed out or on field trip.

  1. Click Students Status Settings on the main interface. This displays the interface below
  2. Select the Class.
  3. Select the Student Status from the appropriate combo box.
  4. Double –Click on the student to change the status to the selection made in 3).
  5. If you want to set the status for all the students in the class, click Set All To Specified Status.
  6. Repeat from Step 1 for other classes.
  7. Click Preview to preview the class register with the students status displayed or
  8. Click Print to print directly to the printer.

Subjects Registration

The Subjects Taken By Classes module on the main interface is where you record all the subjects taken in the class together with the instructor\teacher that handles the subject.

To register subjects taken by a class

  1. Click Subjects Taken by Classes on the main interface. This displays an interface with no objects displayed.
  2. Select a Class from the appropriately labelled combo box at the top left hand corner. This displays relevant information as depicted below.
  3. Select the Year and the Term, if current values are not correct.

  1. Select Subject..
  2. Select Instructor\Teacher. If no teachers known yet, select as Not Specified.
  3. Click Add. This adds the subject to the list of subjects taken by the class.
  4. Repeat from Step 4 to include other subjects.
  5. Repeat from Step 2 to specify subjects for another class.
  6. Click Preview to preview the subjects of the class on the screen or
  7. Click Print to print directly to the printer.
  8. You can print or preview registers of subjects for all classes by clicking Preview Subjects Register For All Classes or Print Subjects Register For All Classes.

To set the Mandatory Minimum No of Subjects to be taken by students in a class

  1. Enter the value in the text box labelled MINIMUM No of subjects to be taken by each student
  2. Click Set.

Classes Time Tables

The Class Time Tables module is where you record the timetable of each class.

To specify the time tab le for a class for a term of a year

  1. Click Class Time Tables on the main interface. This displays an interface with no objects displayed.
  2. Select a Class from the appropriately labelled combo box at the top left hand corner. This displays relevant information as depicted below.
  3. Select the Year and the Term, if current values are not correct.

  1. Select the Period.
  2. Select the Weekday.
  3. Select the Subject.
  4. Click Add.
  5. Repeat from Step 4 for other periods, weekday and subjects.
  6. Repeat from Step 2 for other classes.
  7. Click Preview to preview the timetable on the screen or Print directly to the printer.
  8. Click Preview All Time Tables to preview all classes’ timetables on the screen.
  9. Click Print All Time Tables to print all classes’ timetables on the printer

Class Assessments Formulae

In the Assessment Formulae module you define the equation for overall assessment of the class according to the category of assignments for each term of a year.

What do we mean by the Assessment Formulae?

In SAAMS Assessment Formula defines the scheme by which marks of a subject are distributed between the various categories of assignments of the subject. Standard categories of assignments are Continuous Assessment (CA) and Exams. However, there is the scope to extend it, to say Tests, if required.

The overall total for all the categories must be 100%. You then distribute the marks as required.

For example, you may specify 30% for Continuous Assessment and 70% for Exam.

This means that for each subject taken in a class:

  • all assignments classified as Continuous Assessments will form 30% of the total marks;
  • all assignments classified as Exams will form 70% of the total marks.

These marks are termed Score To Assessment.

In some cases you may wish to have a different formula for a particular subject taken by the class. Therefore, if 40% for CA and 60% for Exams is specified for History for the particular class, then

  • all History assignments classified as Continuous Assessments will form 40% of the total;
  • all History assignments classified as Exams will form 60% of the total marks.

Who is responsible to define it for each class

The instructor\teacher for the class is responsible for defining the assessment formula for that class for the term.

To define the Assessment Formulae for a class

  1. Click Assessment Formulae on the main interface. This displays an interface with no objects displayed.
  2. Select a Class from the appropriately labelled combo box at the top left hand corner. This displays relevant information as depicted below.
  3. Select the Year and the Term, if current values are not correct.
  4. Select the Class Assessment Formula tab.
  5. Select Category, e.g. Continuous Assessment
  6. Enter the total score in textbox Score To Assessment.
  7. Click Add. The formula will be displayed on the list.
  8. Repeat from Step 5 for other categories such as Exams.
  9. Repeat from Step 2 for other classes

To define Assessment Formula for a subject of a class

  1. Select the Subject Assessment Formula tab.
  2. Select the subject from Select a Subject taken by class.
  3. Select Category, e.g. Continuous Assessment
  4. Enter the total score in textbox Score To Assessment.
  5. Click Add. The formula for the subject will be displayed on the list.
  6. Repeat from Step 12 for other categories such as Exams.
  7. Repeat from Step 11 for other subjects.
  8. Repeat from Step 2 for other classes

You can print /preview the formulae reports as usual via Print, Preview buttons.

Assignments and Exams

Assignments and Exams are the various assignments set for students through the course of the year. In SAAMS, each assignment set is must be identified by the subject, the date, the category (i.e. Continuous Assessment or Exam) and the maximum score.

In this section we show how to

  • Register assignments for a class
  • Record the results of the assignment.
  • Confirm the results of assignments
  • Process Results of Assignments

These operations will be the most common operations used in SAAMS during school days.

Registering Assignments and Recording the Results

To Register Assignments for a class

  1. Click Assignments & Exams on the main interface. This displays an interface below.
  2. Select a Class from the appropriately labelled combo box at the top left hand corner.
  3. Select the Year and the Term, if current values are not correct.
  4. Select the Results of Assignments and exams tab.
  5. Select Subject.
  6. Select Category.
  7. Enter Date of Assignment.
  8. Enter Maximum Score of assignment (default is 100).
  9. Click Register Assignment. The assignment will be updated and will be displayed in the Select Assignment To Register combo box in preparation for you to enter the results.

Alternatively, you can register assignments via the Class Assignments tab.

  1. Select the Class Assignments tab
  2. Select Subject.
  3. Select Category.
  4. Enter Date of Assignment.
  5. Enter Maximum Score of assignment (default is 100).
  6. Click Register Assignment. The assignment will be displayed in the list.
  7. Repeat from step 2 for other assignments.

Note that you can specify as many assignments for any category for each subject. There are no limitations imposed since no such limitations exist in schools academic affairs management.

To change the details of an existing assignment of a class

If the details you entered for an assignment is wrong for example, maximum score is wrong, then you may modify the details as follows.

  1. Select the Class Assignments tab
  2. Double-Click the assignment on the list. This displays the prompt (below) with choices to modify or remove the assignment details.
  3. Enter 1 to modify the details. The details will appear in the appropriate text boxes below the list.
  4. Modify the Subject name, Category, Date of Assignment and or Maximum Score as required.
  5. Click Change Assignment Details. The changes should reflect on the list

To remove the details of an assignment

  1. Select the Class Assignments tab
  2. Double-Click the assignment on the list. This displays the prompt (below) with choices to modify or remove the assignment details.
  3. Enter 2 to remove the details. The details will be removed from the list.

Note: You will not be able to remove the assignment it has been done and results of students registered.

Recording Results of an Assignment

  1. Select the Results of Assignments and Exams tab.
  2. Select the assignment from the Select Assignment To Register combo box.
  3. Select a student of the class who took the assignment.
  4. Enter the student’s score in Score.
  5. Click Register Results. The results of the student will appear on the list with the percentage, grade and student position on the assignment automatically computed.
  6. If you need to modify the score, select the student and enter a new Score.
  7. Click Register Results. You will be prompted appropriately and the score will be updated.
  8. If a student’s result must be removed, double-click the record and follow the instructions.

Note that students’ positions on an assignment are automatically derived as you enter the assignment results. However, to be doubly sure, you can click Students Position button to update the positions.

To confirm the results of an assignment

After you have entered all the results of an assignment you should confirm the results to ensure that they cannot be removed or modified. This ensures integrity of information. Confirmation can only be done the instructor\teacher responsible for the subject for the class.

  1. Select the assignment on the Results of Assignments and Exams tab.
  2. Click Confirm Results.
  3. To reverse the confirmation, click Reverse Confirmation.

Assignments Results Processing:

What do we mean by Assignment Results Processing Formula?

In SAAMS Assignments Results Processing Formula defines the distribution of marks between all the assignments such that the total marks for all assignments in a category sums to the total marks assigned for that category (termed Score To Assessment) in the Assessment Formula (defined in Chapter 6).

The mark assigned to an assignment is termed the Count Towards Total. This is the portion that the assignment contributes to the total mark assigned to the category of the assignment for that class.

For example, assuming that the Score To Assessment of Continuous Assessments for the class is 30% of the total for each subject in the class.

If two Mathematics assignments were done in the term we can define the results processing formula for Mathematics for that class as follows.

Mathematics Assignment 1 – Continuous Assessment; Count Towards Total = 10

Mathematics Assignment 2 – Continuous Assessment; Count Towards Total = 20

Total 30

We specify similarly for other categories such as Exams.

To define Assignments Results Processing Formulae for a class

The Results Processing Formula must be defined for each subject of a class of a term

  1. Click Results Processing Formulae on the main interface
  2. Select a Class from the appropriately labelled combo box at the top left hand corner.
  3. Select the Year and the Term, if current values are not correct.
  4. Select a Subject.
  5. Select Category of assignments of the subject.
    1. All assignments of the subject for the selected category will be displayed on the list.
    2. The Score To Assessment, the contribution of the subject’s category to the final assessment is also displayed.
    3. You must now specify the contribution of each assignment to the Score To Assessment.
  6. The recommended initial distribution is to distribute the score to assessment evenly between all the assignments. Click Distribute Scores Evenly.
  7. Double click each assignment and enter your preferred contribution, which is termed Count Towards Total.
    1. Specify Count Towards Total of Zero (0) for assignments that would not contribute to the final assessment.
  8. As you change the Count Towards Total for each assignment, checks are performed to validate that all must sum to the score to assessment. You will constantly be notified if the status of the check.

On completion the check must balance; i.e. sum of Count Towards Total of all Assignments of the subject of the category must equal the Score To Assessment.

Students Results Processing

Accurate totals, averages and students reports are readily generated with SAAMS if you have used it to register all assignments (exams and continuous assessments) on all subjects throughout the term. This is done via the End Of Term Results Processing module on the main interface and the procedures are given in subsequent sections.

End of Term Results Processing

  1. Click End of Term Results Processing on the main interface. This displays an interface with no objects displayed.
  2. Select a Class from the appropriately labelled combo box at the top left hand corner. This displays relevant information as depicted below.
  3. Select the Year and the Term, if current values are not correct.

To Process End of Term Results for subjects

  1. Select Process End of Term Results for subjects tab
  2. Select a subject from Subject combo box
  3. Click Process Results for Selected Subject button.

Alternatively you can process for the results for all subjects taken by the class

  1. Click Process for All Subjects button.

To Preview or Print End Of Term Results for selected subject

  1. Select a Subject.
  2. Click Preview to display the results for the selected subject on your screen
  3. Click Print to display the results for the selected subject on your screen.

To view detailed results of student

The Student’s Detailed Report tab shows the results of a student for each subject enumerated according to category of assignment (continuous assessment, exams, etc.), i.e. results are broken down according to category of assignment.

  1. Select Students Detailed Report tab
  2. Select the Student of interest. This displays the results as shown below.
  3. Print or Preview the report to printer or on the screen.

To obtain Overall Students Averages and Positions

The Overall Students Averages and Positions tab shows the overall percentage\average for each student and his\her position in a class.

  1. Select Overall Students Averages and Positions tab
  2. Click Compute Overall Term Results button, which computes and displays the overall results of all students in the class as depicted below.

Direct Entry of End of Term Results

If you have not been updating assignments results throughout the term you can enter the results of each student directly at the end of the term. This is useful when complete information on assignments and results are not available. You do this with the End of Term Results (Direct Entry) on the main interface.

To Enter End Of Term Results Directly

  1. Click End of Term Results (Direct Entry) on the main interface. This displays an interface with no objects displayed.
  2. Select a Class from the appropriately labelled combo box at the top left hand corner. This displays relevant information as depicted above.
  3. Select the Year and the Term, if current values are not correct.
  4. Select a Student
  5. Select a Subject from the combo box at bottom of the list.
  6. Select Category of Assignment, this displays the maximum score of the assignment as defined by the instructor\teacher of the subject.
  7. Enter the Score.
  8. Click Add.
  9. Repeat from Step 6 for all categories of the assignment of the subject.
  10. Repeat from Step 5 for all subjects
  11. Repeat from Step 4 for all students in the class
  12. On completion elect Overall Students Averages and Positions tab
  13. Click Compute Overall Term Results button to compute the overall results of all students.
  14. Repeat from Step 3 for all classes, if required.

Promotions Management

You would have been collating the results of your students throughout the year and in the final term (usually the 3rd term) you will promote each student to a higher class in the next year (session).

Promoting Students to Next Class of the Next Year (Session)

  1. Click Promotions on the main interface.
  2. Select a Class from the appropriately labelled combo box at the top left hand corner..
  3. Select the Year and the Term, if current values are not correct.

If the term is not the last term of the year (3rd term in this version), the promotions processing objects will not show on the interface.

  1. For completeness click Compute Overall Term Results button to compute the overall results of all students.
  2. Double Click on the students record to mark the student as Promoted. Note that subsequent double-clicks will toggle the status between Promoted (Yes) and Not promoted (No).
  3. Having gone through all the students in the class select next class from Select NEXT Class.
  4. Click Click Here To Affect Promotion.
  5. Check that the operation is successful by selecting the First term of the next Year Session Begins.
  • Students not marked as promoted will stay in their current class in the next session.
  • If any error was made in the promotions management you must, in the next session (year), individually remove a student from one class and register in another class.
  1. If all the students in the class are to be promoted simply click Set All Promoted in Step5.
    1. Click Reverse Setting to reverse this global setting.
  2. Repeat from Step 2 for all classes.

Enquiries and Reports

You should have noticed by now that you have been able to view information, print and preview reports in most interfaces as you have been using SAAMS. The Enquiries & Reports module provides a global tool to search, display, print and preview reports.

  1. Click Enquiries & Reports on the main interface. The interface depicted below is displayed.

The are 5 groupings of reporting

  • Instructors\Teachers\Staff Register Reports
  • Classes Reports
  • Students Reports
  • Subjects and Assignments Reports
  • Advance Enquiries and Reports

The Advanced Enquiries and Reports provides a global tool for enquiries as is targeted at advanced users.

You are expected to be familiar with SAAMS at this stage, therefore, we will provide the general procedure to use enquiries and report facilities, most of which have been dealt with in previous chapters

Instructors\Teachers\Staff Register Reports

  1. Click Instructors\Teachers\Staff Register Reports button to display the staff register.

Classes Reports

  1. Click Classes Report. This displays the interface below
  2. Select a Class at the top left hand corner of the interface.
  3. Click the topic to print. The report will be displayed on the screen.
  4. Click the printer icon to send report to the printer

Students Reports

  1. Click Students Report. This displays the interface below
  2. Select a Class at the top left hand corner of the interface.
  3. Select a Student.
  4. Click the topic to print. The report will be displayed on the screen.
  5. Click the printer icon to send report to the printer

Subjects and Assignments Reports

  1. Click Subjects And Assignments Report. This displays the interface below
  2. Select a Class at the top left hand corner of the interface.
  3. Select a Subject.
  4. Click the topic to print. The report will be displayed on the screen.
  5. Click the printer icon to send report to the printer

  1. Select an Assignment.
  2. Click the topic to print. The report will be displayed on the screen.
  3. Click the printer icon to send report to the printer

Advanced Enquiries and Reports

  1. Click Advanced Enquiries and Reports. This displays the interface below
  2. Select a Class at the top left hand corner of the interface.
  3. In the groupings specify appropriate information.
  4. Click the topic to print. The report will be displayed on the screen.
  5. Click the printer icon to send report to the printer

Reporting and School Fees Management

SAAMS Reporting and School Fees Management module manages general reporting facilities and school fees of students. It can be launched from within the SAAMS main module or separately via its own icon.

SAAMS Reporting and School Fees Management module is intended for management staff who require management reports and for accounts staff who manage the finances of the school and thus school fees invoicing an payments. One other useful feature is the capability to display photographs of students on report cards as well as generate students’ identity cards.

To launch, click Reporting and School Fees Management on SAAMS main interface (or launch via the Reporting Module on the SAAMS section on the Programs menu bar. The interface below is displayed.

From this interface several reports can be printed for a selected class or for a particular student in the class. You must select the class of interest from the combo box labelled Class (if necessary you can change the session and term to the session and term of interest). This downloads required data from the database.

Reporting Facilities

To print reports for the class

  1. Select the class of interest from combo box labelled Class.
  2. Select the report from the combo box labelled Select a Report To Print…. from the top box.
  3. Click Preview to display the report on your screen.
  4. Select Print from the File menu to send the report to the printer.
  5. Note that in step 3, the report is sent directly to the printer if Print was clicked.

The following table displays the various reports available for the class.

Reports For Class
Broad Sheet of Results
Class Promotions Register
Class Register
Class Register – Full Students Details
Class Register with Clubs, House, Societies ets
End of Term Results
End of Term Results (Cumulative)
End of Term Results (WAEC Format)
End of Term Results of Subjects (Alphabetical)
End of Term Results of Subjects (By Position)
List of Students Currently in School
List of Students NOT In School (e.g. Passed Out,etc)
Overall Term Averages (Alphabetical)
Overall Term Averages (By Position)
Overall Year Averages (Alphabetical)
Overall Year Averages (By Position)
Students Accounts Balances
Students Fees Invoices
Students ID Cards
Students Statement of Account
Time Table

To print reports of a student in a class

  1. Select the class of interest from combo box labelled Class.
  2. Select the student from combo box labelled Select Student Name.
  3. Select the report from the combo box labelled Select a Report To Print…. from the top box.
  4. Click Preview to display the report on your screen.
  5. Select Print from the File menu to send the report to the printer.
  6. Note that in step 4, the report is sent directly to the printer if Print was clicked.

The following table displays the various reports available for a student.

Report for Student
End of Term Results
End of Term Results (Cumulative)
End of Term Results (WAEC Format)
Student ID Card
Students Full Details
Students Invoice
Students Statement of Account

School Fees Management

The School Fees Management allows you to do the following

  • Define School Charges Codes
  • Define Financial Instruments
  • Define School Fees Templates and Charge details
  • Generate Invoices for School Fees for students in a class for each term of a session.
  • Debit and Credit the account of a student with charges and payments.
  • Transfer\Roll-Over the balances of each student from one term to another.

The basic principle is that each student has an account with the school for each term of a session.

Click School Fees Management from the main interface above. This displays the interface below labelled School Fees Management functions.

School Charge Codes

School Charge codes define the various charges made to students in the school, such as Tuition, PTA charges, School Uniforms, Books etc. Each of these charges have a standard amount that is charged. You can add new charge codes and modify existing charge codes as the school policy changes.

  1. Click Fees Charge Code to display the interface through which you define the codes for your school.
  2. To add a new charge code,
    1. Click Add.
    2. Enter the Charge Name
    3. Enter the Standard Charge
    4. Click Save.
  3. To modify an existing charge code
    1. Click Modify
    2. Change Details in Charge Code
    3. and\or Change the amount in Standard Charge
    4. Or if you want to discontinue the charge code, click the check box labelled Discontinue.
    5. Click Save.
  4. You can preview and\or print reports of the charge codes via Preview and Print buttons.

Financial Instruments

Financial Instruments defines the various financial instruments that can be uses in financial transactions in the school for payments and invoicing. Click Financial Instruments to display the interface below. Yon can add new instruments and modify existing ones following the same procedure in the previous section.

School Fees Templates and Details

School Fees Templates are used in SAAMS to categorise students according to how they are charged fees. For example, in Command Schools students of civilian parents pay different rates from students with parents in the forces. We create templates for each category and attach details to each template defining the component charges. Each student has a template attached to its status and this enables SAAMS to automatically generate invoices for students. Should the status of a student change, facility to change the template attached to a student is provided.

  1. Click School Fees Templates to define the various templates to use in your school.
  2. Click School Fees Templates Details to define the various component charges for each template created. This displays the interface below.
  3. Select the template from the combo box labelled Template.

To add component charges to the template

  1. Click Add
  2. Select the charge code under Component Charge
  3. If the amount is different from the standard amount enter the amount in the field labelled Amount.
  4. Click Save.
  5. Repeat steps 4 to 7 for all component charges for the template.
  6. Repeat steps 3 to 8 for another template.

To modify existing component charges for a template

  1. Select the template from the combo box labelled Template.
  2. Click Modify, then move to the component of interest.
  3. Select a new charge code for the component if desired
  4. Enter a new amount for the component in Amount
  5. Click Save.
  6. Repeat steps 2 to 5 for other component charges
  7. Repeat steps 1 to 6 for another template.

To delete a component charge from a template

  1. Select the record of interest and then click Delete.

Once you have defines templates and their component charges you can now generate invoices for students class by class for a tem of a session.

Generate School Fees Invoices for students in a class of a term of a session

  1. Click Class Register with Fees Templates.
  2. Select the class of interest.
  3. If required, change the template of a student:
    1. Click Modify.
    2. Scroll to the student of interest.
    3. Select a different template for the student
    4. Click Save
  4. Click Generate Fees Invoices to generate school fees invoices for all the students in the class. You will be prompted accordingly on completion
  5. To delete the invoices generate (if you need to change templates after generation), click Delete Fees Invoices.
  6. On completion click Exit.

To verify that the invoices for the students were created with the templates component charges,

  • Click Students Account Charging.
  • Select the class of interest.
  • Select a student.
  • The component charges of the student’s invoice will be displayed (see interface in the next section).

Charging Students Account with Payments or School Fees Charges

You can charge the students account with payments or add extra charges to the student’s bill from the facility. Actually, you can create a students invoice individually from this interface.

  1. Click Students Account Charging.
  2. Select the class of interest.
  3. Select a student. The component charges of the students account will be displayed. Note that the balance of the students account is displayed; red indicates the student owes the school and blue indicates the student is in credit.

To add a charge to the students account with a charge code, say with charge for UNIFORM.

  1. Select the Charge Code called UNIFORM
  2. Enter\Select the Date.
  3. Enter the Amount.
  4. Enter the Instrument as for example DEBIT NOTE.
  5. Enter the Reference Number of the instrument in Ref, if available.
  6. Click Post.
  7. The entry will be made and the balance reflected accordingly.

If the student makes a payment

  1. Select the student.
  2. Select the Charge Code called PAYMENT
  3. Enter the Amount paid.
  4. Enter the Instrument as for example DRAFT.
  5. Enter the Reference Number of the draft in draft, if available.
  6. Click Post.
  7. The entry will be made and the balance reflected accordingly.

You can print/preview the students account statement via Print or Preview button.

Students Accounts Balance Management

This facility simply manages the transfer balances of students’ accounts from one term to the other. Thus if a student owes some money from the first term fees the balance will be carried over and reflected in the second term’s fees invoice\account. Two situations must be considered:

  1. where all the students are the same as in the previous term, in which we can transfer the balances automatically for all the students in the class, and
  2. where the students are distributed into different classes in the next term, in which case transfer of balances must be done for each individual student one-by-one.

If all students are in the same class next term

  1. Click Class Accounts Balance Management to display the interface below.
  2. Select the Previous Class (for the term of the session of interest)
  3. Select the Current Class (for the term of the session of interest)
  4. Click Generate and Transfer Balances. You will be prompted accordingly on completion.
  5. Students’ balances will be transferred from the account of the previous class to the current class.

If a student is in a different class next term.

  1. Click Student Account Balance Management to display the interface below.
  2. Select the Previous Class (for the term of the session of interest)
  3. Select the Student
  4. Select the Current Class (for the term of the session of interest)
  5. Select the Student
  6. Click Generate and Transfer Balances.
  7. The student’s balances will be transferred from the account of the previous class to the current class.

Note that you must select the student in the previous and current class to ensure that the student exists in both cases to avoid transferring balances to the wrong student’s account.

Appendix

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