▲ Entrance to the cafeteria at Masan Muhak Girls' High School
A cafeteria access control system developed directly by high school students during class has drawn attention after being introduced in a real school setting.
The Gyeongsangnam-do Office of Education announced that the web application (web app) named "Dinner Attendance Verification System," developed by Masan Muhak Girls' High School 2nd-year students Cho Eun-seo and Song Hye-min, was implemented at the school cafeteria starting on the 1st of this month.
A web app is a program that runs directly in an internet browser without requiring separate installation on a smartphone or PC.
Unlike lunch, which is provided free of charge, dinner is operated on a paid application basis, making access control essential to individually verify the list of applicants at the cafeteria entrance.
The two students, who occasionally participated in serving meals, learned that the school was paying approximately 200,000 won per month (about 1.98 million won annually) to a catering company for a paid management program to verify dinner applicants.
Thinking, "Let us build it ourselves using the programming we learned in class," they jumped into development.
Guided by their information technology teacher, the students spent about six months completing the system through planning, functional design, and debugging.
Much like the existing catering company system, it verifies access by scanning student ID barcodes.
Convenience has been enhanced by allowing real-time usage status, duplicate entry checks, and daily statistics to be checked immediately.
By replacing the existing paid program with the student-developed system, the school is able to save nearly 2 million won in annual school budget.
Teacher Park Young-su, who guided the students, explained, "This program is at a level that anyone can complete with about six months of effort," adding, "It is an example showing that programming can go beyond simple coding to become a tool for solving real-life problems."
Cho Eun-seo and Song Hye-min shared their thoughts, saying, "It is rewarding that programming which started as a class assignment is actually being used for cafeteria access control," and adding, "We learned a lot while writing the program."
(Photo provided by Gyeongsangnam-do Office of Education, Yonhap News)
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