Matching for resource optimization: A case for Makerere University examinations

Abstract

University examinations are very important in evaluation of the students’ progress and final achievement in the employment world. Successful conduct of the examination process requires a lot of resources such as human resource, space, stationery and furniture. These resources are becoming more scare and limited given the increasing number of students enrolling for university studies. Therefore there is need to optimally map these resources to demand. We analysed the Resource Allocation Problem (RAP) to be able to formulate it as an instance of the Stable Marriage Problem (SMP) and then customised the SMP to match the core resources (space, time and staff) needed for conducting examinations. The system was implemented on a web environment using PHP, Javascript, CSS3 and HTML. The results were then tested by executing each module developed. Each module was tested using raw data before and after integrating them into one system and errors corrected accordingly. The new system generates examination timetables that show the room(s) allocated to each examination and ensures that the room(s) allocated to every examination is/are the best for that particular examination at that specific time. Supervision schedules and student seating plans are automatically generated by the new system as well.