CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION

In this chapter I introduce what SIWES is all about, aims and objectives. I

also explain the steps I followed before my application was accepted and

how I joined maintenance team of CIT. at the end I closed the chapter with

the discussion of the history and functions of Centre for Information

Technology, Bayero University, Kano new site Gwarzo road.

1.2 ABOUT SIWES

Source:http//www.siwesdata.org (visited on 12th march 2011, 8:30pm)

SIWES is an acronym, which means Student Industrial Working Experience

Scheme. The scheme was introduced by ITF in early 1970s in order to

overcome the problems of inadequate practical skills preparatory for

employment in industries by Nigerian graduates of higher institutions. The

Scheme exposes students to industrial based skills necessary for a smooth

transition from the theoretical aspect to the practical world. It gives students

of higher institutions the opportunity of being familiarized and exposed to

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the needed experience in handling machinery and equipment which are

usually not available in their institutions.

Participation in SIWES become necessary pre-condition for the award of

diploma, NCE and degree certificates in specific disciplines in the

universities, colleges and polytechnics across the country, in order to comply

with the educational policy of the country. Besides, the program being part

of the curriculum of institutions of higher learning as part of the needs for a

successful completion of the degree, diploma and NCE program. As part of

this program, students are to undergo training within a minimum duration of

four months for polytechnics and colleges of education, and six months for

the universities in various industries and organizations depending on their

fields of study to give them a practical feel of the knowledge they have

acquired in school.

One of the major problems of this program is the inability of students to

secure placement in a suitable company where they can obtain good

machinery and working experience that is related to their discipline. Even in

situations where a good company with the availability of the right work

environment is obtained, students often find themselves being used for

menial jobs. This also has led to the school requiring every student to submit

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a written SIWES report on completion of their program in addition to the log

book where the student records their day to day activities from the beginning

to the end of the SIWES program to the department.

1.2.1 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF SIWES

Source:http//www.siwesdata.org (visited on 12th march 2011, 8:30pm)

According to Federal Government in its Gazette of April 1978, the aims and

objectives of SIWES are as follows:-

1 To prepare student for the work situation they are likely to meet after

graduation and provide student an opportunity to apply their

theoretical knowledge in real work situation.

2 To expose students to the working environment so as to learn the

method and techniques in handling equipment and machineries that

may not be available in their school.

3 To provide opportunity to student to put their knowledge into practice

there by bridging the gabs between the class work and the real-life

application.

4 Provide an-avenue for the students in high institution to acquire

industrial skills and experience in their respective course of study.

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 1.2.2 ROLES OF ITF IN SIWES

Source:http//www.siwesdata.org (visited on 12th march 2011, 8:30pm)

Gideon (1990:12) points out that the main roles of ITF on SIWES are

to:

1. Provide funds for the payment of students’ attachment stipend

2. Liaise with the SIWES agencies to ensure prompt receipt and

processing of placement list.

3. And lecturer supervisory allowance.

4. Provide funds for the payment of students’ attachment stipend

5. Coordinate, direct and finance the SIWES program in all its

ramifications.

6. Encourage the establishment of SIWES in all national

universities and other institutions of higher learning so as to provide for

easy and effective coordination of all SIWES matters.

7. Ensure that all institutions concerned submit to the ITF office at the end

of the SIWES program, an end of program report (form 08).

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1.3 APPLICATION AND POSTING

When I collected an application letter from the departmental SIWES

coordinator, I applied to Centre for Information Technology (CIT) Bayero

University, Kano through the office of the secretary. Three weeks later I

went back to CIT for the collection of acceptance letter, they asked me to

come back next week, fortunately when I came back there the following

week, the secretary issued me the acceptance letter signed and approved by

the director and it was during the second semester break. After two weeks of

resuming to the new session, I returned the acceptance letter to the SIWES

coordinator of the mathematical science department.

Immediately after the first semester I reported to the CIT for the beginning

of my SIWES, when I was reported to the centre, I first introduced myself to

the secretary who briefly introduced me to maintenance team coordinator.

Then the coordinator explained the importance of maintenance to me and I

was satisfied to join the maintenance team.

1.4 THE CENTRE FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (CIT)

Source: history of CIT obtained from the centre

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1.4.1 Brief about CIT

In the late 1970s, Bayero University, Kano established Computer Centre

which, was located at the old site of the University with a VAX Machine

installed in the Centre, the aim of the Computer Centre was to provide the

computing needs of the University Community. As the time went on

technology is always in progress in the 1990s, the VAX Machine became

difficult to maintain and therefore the University provide 10 microcomputers

to the Centre by the late 1990s.

In 1999 when Professor Musa Abdullahi was installed as new Vice

Chancellor of the university, then he made the plan of constructing a

standard Computer Centre for the University. This was due to his realization

of how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are becoming

more important in supporting University education not only in Nigeria world

wide. In 2000, the University Management submitted a proposal for a grant

to John D and Catherine T. MacArthur foundation of Chicago USA in which

the planned of Computer building is featured among the projects with the

highest priority. The foundation financed half of the centre building and the

University financed the remaining half.

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After the completion of the Centre located at the new campus, the name of

the former Computer Centre was changed to Centre for Information

Technology (CIT).

Due to this effort the centre assumed functionality and the centre has

been providing the ICT needs of the university. The centre is now

responsible for the university ICT projects and maintenance of the university

VSAT and monitoring the university networks connected to the two

campuses, as a result of the additional role of providing all the necessary

facilities for Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

1.4.2 Teams in the Centre for Information Technology

1. Networking Team.

2. Software and Website Development Team.

3. System Maintenance Team.

4. Internal and Outreach Training Team.

5. Nigeria Universities Networking Unit (NU Net)

6. Coordination Team.

1.4.3 FUNCTIONS OF CENTRE FOR INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY
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Source: handover note obtained from the centre.

The primary functions of the Centre for Information Technology are:-

1 To provide computing facilities for every interested member of the

university community.

2 To provide advanced resource for special applications such as

research projects.

3 To provide professional advice and guidance in computer

applications and usage.

4 To conduct computer training for members of the University

community and general public.

5 To provide consultancy services to the general public.

6 To provide Internet, FTP, Email, and VOIP services.

7 To provide wireless Internet connection.

8 To provide systems maintenance services.

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 CHAPTER TWO

SIWES EXPERIENCE

2.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter extensively discussed the experience I acquired within the

period of my industrial training in Computer maintenance teams of the

Centre for Information Technology. I participated in the maintenance team.

2.2 COMPUTER MAINTENANCE

I fully participated in maintenance and I learnt many things as far as

maintenance is concerned. I was introduced with computer components such

as motherboard, power pack, RAM, heat sink, cooling fan, IDE cable both

SATA and PATA among others.

2.2.1 Disassembling and reassembling of motherboard

I learnt how to disassemble and reassemble motherboard and I participated

in disassembling and assembling motherboard.

Disassembling motherboard is the screwing of all screwable components

from the system board and also removing of all components attached to the

board, while reassembling of motherboard is the reinstallation of all

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components to the system unit, during installation the system board is put on

insulating mat and make sure that all metallic objects is removed from the

place.

I learnt how to prepare a good working environment for disassembling and

reassembling of system board such as:

1. Adequate lighting.

2. Good ventilation.

3. Comfortable room temperature.

4. Work bench accessible from all sides.

5. Avoid cluttering workbench.

6. An antistatic mat on the table.

7. Small containers to hold screws and other small parts.

I learnt and participated in the installation of system unit using the simplest

installation procedure, in the first place to install the power supply then

motherboard, install the drives, adapter cards, cables and boot the computer.

Besides the installation of external devices for network and other activities

2.2.2 on bench test of system board

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 I learnt how to make on bench test of the system board in order to

troubleshoot the hardware and software problems and I have participated in

many on bench test.

On bench test is the troubleshooting technique use to identify either

hardware or software problem in which the motherboard is removed from

the chassis and put on the insulating mat with all the components attached to

it, so that it can be switch on in order to troubleshoot the problems.

When the computer is on bench then I learnt how to identify some common

troubleshooting problems using basic input/output system (BIOS), which

will perform a power-on self test (POST) to check all of the internal

components and also I learnt how to identify beep codes and standard BIOS

setup.

Some obvious issues that have to be checked first when on bench:

1. Loose external cable connections

2. Incorrect boot order in BIOS

3. Non bootable disk in floppy drive

4. Power switch for an outlet is turned off

5. Surge protector is turned off

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 6. Device is powered off

I learnt the troubleshooting procedures and I followed these procedures in

many troubleshooting activities, the procedures are:

1. I learnt when troubleshooting, to power on the computer and listen to

the beep code sequence and to document the beep code sequence and

research the code to determine the specific hardware failure.

2. I learnt that if the computer boots and stops after the POST, to

investigate the BIOS settings to determine where to find the problem.

And to troubleshoot it using the motherboard manual to make sure

that the BIOS settings is accurate.

3. I learnt how to conduct research to find software to use to diagnose

and solve problems. Often, manufacturers of system hardware provide

diagnostic tools of their own.

2.2.3 Software maintenance

I learnt and participated in software maintenance such as installation of an

operating system, drivers, antivirus and Microsoft office. Updating antivirus,

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formatting a computer system, hard disk defragmentation, system file check

up, and repairing of an operating system.

I participated in the installations of windows XP operating systems on many

computers at Cisco teaching laboratory, workshop and student’s cafe within

the Centre, I Also did some installations of the operating systems on some of

the computers at the library student’s cafe. These are the procedures I

followed during the installation:-

I started the Computer and then placed Windows XP CD inside the

CD/DVD-ROM, and then I changed the first boot device from the BIOS

setup to begin with the CD/DVD-ROM instead of the default 1st boot device

which is normally hard drive. Immediately after that, the computer

automatically detected the CD and displayed the message saying “Press any

key to boot from the CD”, and then I pressed enter key.

Then the window XP professional setup screen with the options of new

window install, repair previous installed and quit is displayed. Since I was

doing a new installation, I pressed enter key to continue.

After pressing enter key to continue, I followed all the instructions prompted

for the window XP installation through the end of the installations.

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I learnt how to identify and replace the missing files using the command

prompt and using the command sfc/Scannow; I also learnt and participated

in hardware and software failure checking using dx-diag in the run. I learnt

and participated in hard disk defragmentation and hard disk check up using

the command defrags c: Run a disk-defragmenting program. The defragment

program included with Windows Vista/7 runs automatically, but for a faster

and more thorough on-demand defragmentation, you may prefer a third-

party program such as VOPT, which is also known as being one of the

fastest on the market. I learnt and participated in the formatting hard drive

from the command line using the command FORMAT C:/FS: NTFS or

FORMAT C: /FS: FAT32 depending of the file system use by the user. I

learnt and participated in many software installations such as sound drivers,

VGA driver, AUTOCAD, antivirus, ms-word, and many others. I am also

familiar with the installation of any software using simple compatible

approach. I learnt and participated in hard disk partitioning from the

command prompt using the command DISKPART and press enter.

I learnt and followed some maintenance precautions such as:

1. I learnt that regular preventive maintenance reduces hardware and

software problems.

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 2. I learnt that before beginning any repair, back up the data on a

computer to prevent data lost.

3. I learnt to document everything that you try, even if it fails. The

documentation that you create will become a useful resource for you

and other technicians.

4. I learnt that the troubleshooting process is a guideline to help you

solve computer problem in an efficient manner.

I learnt and I was introduced to network operating system in which the

common network operating system are:

1. Novell Netware

2. Microsoft Windows Server

3. Linux

4. UNIX

A network OS has the following characteristics:

1. Supports multiple users

2. Runs multi-user applications

3. Is robust and redundant

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 4. Provides increased security compared to desktop operating systems

CHAPTER THREE

SUMARRY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

3.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter comprised the entire report summary, conclusion and some

recommendations I offered, which in my own perception if followed

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carefully would help to find a lasting solution to the shortcomings of the

program across the country.

3.2 SUMMARY

Student industrial working experience scheme is very, very important in

exposing students to the practical world, through this program I learnt a lot

of things that I have never known before.

For the first time I was introduced to the most of the computer components

that I did not know before. I learnt and participated in disassembling and

reassembling a system board; I learnt and participated in many software

installation such as window xp, ms-word, AutoCAD, antivirus, drivers and

many others. I learnt and participated in troubleshooting software and

hardware problems in which I learnt many troubleshooting guidelines and

precautions.

In one word I can say that, SIWES help students tremendously in exposing

them to practical world and working environment.

3.3 CONCLUSION

In conclusion I like to say that student industrial working experience scheme

(SIWES) is very, very important in exposing students in to the working

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environment and the world of work in general, because this program helps

me to learn and participate in many things in ICT field. So as a result of this

I learnt as many things as possible and now I can be able to expose my self

any where as a computer scientist, because of the SIWES program, hence

the aim is achieved. In my on point of view I realized that without this

program students of the IT field like me would not learn any thing as far as

practical is concern. Through this program I was able to participate and

learnt many things that I never known before and I acquired many

experiences in the IT field. Even though there are some shortcomings in the

program, which the students face during the program, but still the program is

of paramount importance to the students and the country at large.

3.4 RECOMMENDATIONS

Despite the pact that the SIWES aim is achieved, there are some

shortcomings as I said which the students face during application or when

the program is in progress in some IT industries. These are some

recommendation:

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1. Institutions and ITF should be fully involved in the application and

placement of students in some industries.

2. Institutions and ITF have to ensure that all relevant industries that the

students applied consider there application.

3. ITF has to make it mandatory to visit student at least once, where ever

they are attached to.

4. ITF has to ensure that some industries that are rejecting students’

application stop it, at mean time for the aim of the program not be

defeated.

5. Institutions and ITF has to redouble there effort in orienting the

students to fully engage with there work during program in order for

the program not be defeated.

6. ITF suppose to provide a measure which will ensure that all SIWES

students are fully involve in to the practical activities as some

industries are denying students access to some machineries.

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