From paper forms to smart maps: how a digital welfare system is transforming student support in malaysian polytechnic education

  • Mohd Fauzi Mohd Yunus 
    Malaysia
  • Sharifah Nurulhuda Tuan Mohd Yasin
    Politeknik Kuala Terengganu
    Malaysia
  • Afsal Abdullah
    Malaysia

Abstract

When students are living scattered across different areas of a city instead of staying in campus hostels, colleges face the challenge of ensuring their safety, monitoring their well-being, and providing timely support, especially during emergencies. This paper examines how Politeknik Kuala Terengganu (PKT) answered that question by building the i-Care system, a web-based digital platform that uses GPS mapping to track where students live, monitors their well-being over time, and allows staff to respond quickly during emergencies such as floods. Before i-Care, the institution collected welfare information through paper forms handled by student volunteers. This produced errors in nearly half of all records and left staff poorly equipped to help students when it mattered most. This paper describes how i-Care works, what it has changed, and what other institutions managing large off-campus student populations can learn from PKT's experience. The study also raises honest questions about student privacy and whether all students can access the system fairly. The findings suggest that thoughtful digital tools, when paired with genuine institutional commitment, can transform student welfare management from a reactive, paperwork-heavy process into a proactive and genuinely

Keywords
  • Digital Transformation, Student Welfare, I-Care System, GPS Mapping, Higher Education,
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How to Cite
Mohd Yunus, M. F., Yasin, S. N. T. M., & Abdullah, A. (2026). From paper forms to smart maps: how a digital welfare system is transforming student support in malaysian polytechnic education. Southeast Asian Journal of Technology and Science, 7(1), 254–260. https://doi.org/10.29210/810712400
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