Innovation: The research introduces two key innovations to the Nigerian education system: a digital reconciliation process and a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) model. The digital reconciliation process simplifies school fees payment and reconciliation for parents and schools. Through our mobile app, parents can make instant school fees payments, eliminating the need for cash deposits or transfers. Schools benefit from a web dashboard that displays all incoming payments, saving up to 80% of reconciliation time and providing valuable insights into their business performance. The BNPL model targets salary earners, allowing them to apply to finance their child's school fees at quality schools. Leveraging AI and ML, we analyze users' financial records accessed through a financial data API provider. This ensures responsible lending, mitigates risk, and determines the applicants' creditworthiness. This innovative approach increases financial inclusivity and promotes responsible financial practices in accessing quality education. By combining digital reconciliation and the BNPL model, we aim to streamline payment processes, increase financial inclusivity, and foster a more efficient and sustainable education ecosystem. These innovations not only benefit parents and schools but also contribute to the overall improvement of the Nigerian education system by providing access to quality education while promoting responsible financial practices.

Sector/Industry Application: Education

Description: This research grant proposal aims to revolutionize the Nigerian education system by addressing the challenges faced by parents and schools. Currently, the school fees payment process is paper-based and time-consuming, leading to difficulties in payment reconciliation. Moreover, the high cost of quality education restricts access for many parents. To tackle these issues, we propose the development of a mobile application that simplifies school fees payment for parents, eliminating the need for cash deposits and paper receipts. This streamlined process can save schools up to 80% of payment reconciliation time and costs, while also benefiting the environment by reducing paper usage. To enhance affordability, we will implement a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) model. Qualified parents will have the option to finance their child's total school fees upfront and repay the amount in three monthly installments, with interest rates as low as 0% because of discount gotten from schools. This flexible payment structure aims to remove financial barriers and enable parents to choose higher-quality schools. Additionally, we will introduce a partnership program with training institutes, covering course fees upfront for qualifying applicants. Beneficiaries will repay us through monthly installments deducted from their salaries over three months, with interest rates as low as 0%. This initiative will provide access to quality training and education programs, benefiting salary earners and attracting more students to training institutes. In summary, this research grant proposal seeks to support the development and implementation of innovative digital solutions that simplify school fees payments, drive access to quality education, and enhance financial sustainability for parents and schools. By leveraging technology and adopting a BNPL model, we aim to address the challenges faced by the Nigerian education system while contributing to the overall improvement of the quality of education in the country and beyond.

Problem: Problem 1: The African school fees payment process is an antiquated paper-based system. Parents need to go to the bank with the cash to make a deposit, and return to the school with the teller in order to get a receipt. Some parents use their bank’s mobile app, but they still need to send a copy of the teller to the school. This makes payment reconciliation (knowing who has paid or not, when they paid, etc) difficult for schools because it’s paper-based and comes from different sources. As such, it’s expensive, stressful & lengthy for schools to reconcile payment. Problem 2: According to the World Economic Forum (WEF, 2017), Nigeria ranks 124th out of 137 countries on the global quality of education index. It’s not that there are no quality education providers, but the average Nigerian cannot afford the cost of quality education. To be exact, 40% of parents say they will change their child's school to a better school if they could pay monthly. This explains why we are deploying digital technologies that help lower the barrier, hence, driving access to quality education.