Start with your own problem
Write down the three things that hurt most this term: perhaps fee reconciliation, report cards and parent complaints. Judge every system on those first. A long feature list does not help if the bursar still spends Friday matching M-Pesa statements.
Eight questions to ask every vendor
- Will you demo it with our classes and fee structure? A generic demo hides gaps.
- Show me an M-Pesa payment arriving. Does it match the learner and issue a receipt by itself? What happens to a payment with a wrong admission number?
- Show me CBC and 8‑4‑4 report cards. Are the performance levels and layouts what your school would actually send home?
- Can teachers do it on a phone? Ask a teacher to try entering marks on their own phone.
- Who keeps statutory rates up to date? Can your school update PAYE, NSSF, SHIF and housing levy figures when the law changes?
- How does our data get in, and out? Can you import Excel files, and can you export your own records if you leave?
- Who trains staff, and who answers in term time? Ask for a phone number, and try it.
- What is the full price? Setup, per-learner fees, SMS costs, terminals and yearly renewal.
Check security, not just screens
Learners' records are sensitive. Ask whether each role sees only what it should, whether accounts can use two-step sign-in, whether there is an audit log of changes, and how your data is separated from other schools'. Kenya's Data Protection Act applies to personal data, including children's, so ask how the vendor handles it.
How Shulepoa answers these
We demo with your own setup, match paybill payments to learners, print CBC and 8‑4‑4 report cards, work on Android phones, keep statutory rates editable per school, import Excel, CSV and Word lists, train your staff, and use role permissions, two-step sign-in and an audit log. Ask us to show you each one on a call.