Electronic payment of school fees launched

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Feb 23, 2008

AN electronic payment system to ensure the smooth payment of school fees in second cycle institutions has been launched in Accra.
Known as E-Transact, the system seeks to eliminate the numerous challenges parents and students face in the payment of school fees.
It was launched by a consortium of seven banks — namely Barclays Bank, GT Bank, Intercontinental Bank, Unibank, United Bank of Africa, Zenith Bank, Amal Bank — and Busy Internet.
The Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Samuel Bannerman-Mensah, who launched the initiative, said “though there has been a lot of improvement in the educational front with regard to access, quality, gender parity and the management of resources, there is still room for improvement”.
He noted that the government alone could not carry the financial burden of providing quality education, making it imperative for others contribute to the cost of education.
He said cash transactions faced some problems including the danger of losing the cash on the way to school, counting errors, fake currency and the tendency of students to make use of the cash on frivolous spending.
He said because of the number of banks involved in the project, speedy, efficient and secured payment would be guaranteed at all times.
“Unlike the banker’s draft the payment charges are relatively lower and fixed across all the payment points,” he added.
The Director-General urged school authorities to cooperate with the banks to ensure a successful delivery of the service by way of giving correct data and pledged the support of the GES to the initiative.
The Deputy Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank, Mr Lolu Akindele, said the initiative would transform the rigorous payment process parents and students went through in paying fees.
He said ”almost all processes involved in school fees payment, from collection to reconciliation, are largely manual, even for most tertiary and modern-day institutions”.
He said the E-Transact payment was equipped with not just card-based transactions for the public but also raw cash-based payments such as collection of fees and revenue at teller posts referred to as pay outlet.
The President of the Conference of Heads of Secondary Schools (CHASS), Mr Samuel Ofori Adjei, stressed the need for the system to be extended to the rural areas.
He called on the banks to educate parents on the system through the parent-teacher associations.
Schools which do not have internet facilities would enjoy the provision of computer with internet connectivity for teachers and students, which would aid the monitoring of payments made online by parents and students.