Introduction to Fedha Youth Group System Project

Introduction

The 2020 KCSE Computer Studies project question (451/3) came out in mid-January of this year. This is in line with the 2019 KNEC changes to the assessment of the Computer Studies project. Unlike previous years (pre-2019), candidates are now expected to complete their projects by mid-July. The changes also introduced project 'milestones' - the first milestone MUST be completed and score keyed in by March 31st and the second milestone similarly by July 15th. Needless to say, a candidate's second milestone should be seen to be building on the first milestone. As a candidate, there is no particular point in project development that has been specified as to demarcate as the first milestone, it is entirely up to you to decide wisely.

[22ND MARCH 2020 UPDATES: (1) Scroll to the bottom of this page to watch the video demo of the 100% complete system. (2) To download/get access to the project, click here - https://bit.ly/fygsd ]

This year's project, ‘Fedha Youth Group System’ requires candidates to computerize the operations of a youth self-help group/organisation. The self-help group/organization hereby aptly named ‘Fedha Youth Group’ aids its registered members by extending loans of different types to them. During registration, members pay a non-refundable fee of Ksh.1,000. Thereafter, members are required to contribute a minimum of Ksh500 every month as shares. Members earn dividends each year - the same being allocated based on share contribution.

The different types of loans are: emergency loan, short loan, normal loan & development loan. The said loans attract different interest rates and are also to be repaid over different lengths of time ranging from 1 year to 4 years. For a member to be loaned, he/she has to have contributed for at least 6 consecutive months. Additionally, a member seeking to be loaned some money has to be guaranteed by other members of Fedha Youth Group organization. The amount one can be loaned depends on two factors: the total amount of his/her shares i.e. monthly contributions over time and the total amount guaranteed by other members of the organization.

Fedha Youth Group self-help group/organization makes money through charging interest on loans extended to members as well as through interest earned on members' savings that are not borrowed and thus kept as fixed deposit in the bank. 90% of the total revenue earned goes to dividends while 10% is retained for office expenses. Candidates are therefore required to factor in this aspect and design systems that can compute income earned from fixed deposits and loan repayments.

A member wishing to exit Fedha Youth Group organization is required to issue a 1-month notice and to have repaid all outstanding loans borrowed. Loans that the member had guaranteed must also have been repaid. Upon successful exit from the organization, the member is reimbursed his/her shares contributed during his/her membership.

Key aspects of Fedha Youth Group system project

1. The ability to store (in tables) details of members and their registration fees & their monthly contributions.
2. The ability to compute: the total registration fees received by the organization and total monthly contributions.
3. The ability to store (in tables again) loan types, loans extended to members and the respective guarantors' details as well as guaranteed amounts.
4. The ability to compute maximum loan amounts qualified for, total guaranteed amount for each loan and loan repayment schedules.
5. The ability to capture details of repayment of installments of loans extended to members.
6. The ability to compute interest earned from loans in total and yearly, amount of money to be kept as fixed deposit and the interest earned on the same annually,
7. The ability to compute dividends payable to members and the amount to be retained for office expenses.

What you need to come up with a good Fedha Youth Group system project.

1. A database management system: I presume most if not all schools use Microsoft Windows in their computer labs. I recommend Microsoft Access 2010 or higher. MS Access 2010 also has some important features not available in MS Access 2007.
2. Creativity: You have been tasked with computerizing operations of Fedha Youth Group. Don’t make the common mistake of developing a half-computerized system - Computerize as much operations as possible, don't design a calculator! Also note that some operations cannot be computerized when developing using a DBMS - find a way to minimize such instances and ensure tight integration with the computerized operations.
3. Solid planning: This is very important. Don't be in a hurry. Take your time to visualize how you want your system to look like, develop a road-map starting with the basics. Even with a plan, you will meet a few obstacles but you will be able to go back and make corrections if you have a plan. In this case, a plan basically involves coming up with the basic tables and queries you need. Some obvious tables include a members’ details table, a loan types’ details table and a loans' table.
4. Open-mindedness: Projects are rarely 'easy' More often than not, implementing some question requirements will be a hard nut to crack. Some concepts you may need to use to complete your project successfully might have not been taught to you in a classroom section, and it is not that your teacher(s) did you injustice. Be curious, utilize the Internet and other resources to learn new formulae, functions etc.
5. Security: You can achieve this through password-protecting your database as well as regularly backing it up. Once you reach a milestone, I recommend you save two copies of your Fedha Youth Group System and proceed with one copy. This way if you face hurdles in design or something happens like accidentally deleting a table or a query, you can always go back to the other copy and proceed from there. Click here to learn how to encrypt and decrypt your MS Access database project.

Hints

They are all in the above analysis/overview. Read between the lines. For all inquiries, Call/WhatsApp 0787916450 or Telegram @AccessProKev.

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Demo video