The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Jinja, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | For schools, collecting fees can mean long queues on reporting days, large amounts of cash to manage and hours spent reconciling payments. But as more institutions embrace digital payments, platforms such as MoMo School Pay are helping schools make fee collection faster, easier to track and more secure, while giving parents the flexibility to pay without travelling to school.
At Jinja School of Nursing and Midwifery, the adoption of MoMo School Pay has helped streamline the work of the finance office.
Epitu James, Assistant Bursar at Jinja School of Nursing and Midwifery, said the system has made it easier to track student payments, reconcile accounts and maintain accurate financial records.
“Using MoMo School Pay has made fee management much easier for our school, particularly in the reconciliation of books of accounts in the finance office,” Epitu said. “The system enables us to easily track student payments and reconcile student accounts, since payment information is readily available.”
The electronic records also enable the school to verify payments and identify outstanding balances, reducing errors associated with manual record keeping while supporting the institution’s audit processes.
At Lucky Kids Academy, the experience has similarly been about making fee collection more convenient for both the school and parents.
Waligo Ivan, Head Teacher at Lucky Kids Academy, said parents can make payments from home or work, reducing the need to carry cash to school.
“Ever since we started using MoMo to receive school dues, life at school has drastically changed,” Waligo said. “It is very convenient to parents because payments are made in the comfort of their homes or offices.”
He said the system has also helped reduce queues on reporting days, while instant payment notifications make reconciliation easier for the school and provide parents with confirmation of their transactions.
With fewer cash transactions, the school has also reduced some expenditure associated with receipt books and improved its ability to plan and manage available funds.
For schools still relying heavily on cash, the administrators say the transition to digital fee collection is worth considering.
Epitu encourages other institutions to adopt MoMo School Pay, saying it provides a secure and trackable way of managing school fees while reducing some of the administrative challenges associated with cash payments.
Beyond simplifying fee collection, participating schools can also benefit from the Win School Fees for a Year and More campaign. Schools that accept school fees through MoMo stand a chance to win a school van, giving institutions an opportunity to strengthen their transport capacity.
Lucky Kids Academy received its van earlier this year. Waligo said the vehicle has helped the school transport learners more reliably while reducing the cost of hiring vehicles.
“The van has surely helped us a great deal in transporting learners to and from school,” he said. “It has enabled us to shuttle children in time and cut down on hire costs that we were incurring before we received it.”
At Jinja School of Nursing and Midwifery, the van is supporting students during clinical placements.
Epitu said the vehicle enables students to travel safely and on time to placement sites, while also helping tutors and supervisors regularly monitor their progress.
“The school van has improved mobility, safety, supervision and the effective implementation of our students’ clinical training programs,” he said.
The experiences of the two schools demonstrate how moving school fee payments from cash to digital platforms can address some of the everyday challenges faced by schools and parents.
For school administrators, digital payments can mean easier reconciliation, better payment tracking and clearer financial records. For parents, they offer a convenient way to pay school fees without physically travelling to school or carrying cash.
For participating schools, the Win School Fees for a Year and More campaign adds another potential benefit, with institutions standing a chance to win a school van that can support learner transport and wider school operations.
Parents can pay school fees through the MoMo App or by dialling 16580#. Schools can also adopt MoMo School Pay to receive digital fee payments and improve the efficiency of their collections.
