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 review Evolution 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

Number of people who have applied for leave

How teachers apply for leave

Acceptability of current system Strongly agree AgreeDisagree Strongly Disagree Total Procedure used to apply for leave Frequency (N) % Frequency 14.77%5.68%25.76%53.79%100% Speed of processing of leave Frequency (N) % Frequency 4.54%9.09%26.52%59.85%100% Average Percentage 9.66%7.39%26.14%56.82%100.00%

TSC employees with internet enabled phones

Acceptability of M-LA acceptabilityFrequencyPercent Strongly Acceptable Acceptable Unacceptable Strongly Unacceptable Total

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