Electronic wallet-cum-payment system pitched to private schools

A TEAM from the Institut Teknologi Brunei is pitching an e-payment system that would help private schools properly handle delinquent payments and combat fraud.

The system, which was submitted to the 2010/ 2011 Think Big business plan contest, was a Bicta award recipient and a contender at the Asia-Pacific ICT Awards (Apicta).

Ya-Anenawati Hj Md Yusuf, one of the team members that developed the software, told The Brunei Times that the product was a "necessity for schools, especially private schools".

The in-service training student at ITB with an Information Technology Background cited an incident where a school clerk had issued fraudulent receipts, which were printed outside the country, after receiving payment and then walked off with the money.

"They lost about $20-$30,000, and it was not the first time something like that happened," she said.

Ya-Anenawati also noted that there were also accounts of shopkeepers in canteens bullying students and cheating them.

She also mentioned that under the current system, schools need to send letters to parents with delinquent payments through the students. This poses a problem because parents may not, for one reason or another, get the notice in time.

"If a hundred students forget their fees, that is a lot of money which the school cannot use to help improve itself," she said.

The premise behind the product was to develop a school management system for payments which would eliminate the need for students to bring cash for purchases in school shops.

Students will be given accounts, the amount of which they can access via radio-frequency identification (RFID) cards, and will be topped up by their parents.

Meanwhile, school authorities who need to access the system will use a biometric fingerprint scanner to do so.

The system can send SMS to parents to remind them of payment dates for school fees. "We can't make them pay, but at least we'll ensure they get the message," Ya-Anenawati said.

She said the school's finances can also be easily tracked, and as such an end-of-year report could easily be generated for the purpose of audit.

A pilot school has been chosen for the implementation of the system, and responses have been positive, she said.

She also said that other schools told her that they would willingly adopt the system if it proves to be viable.

Ya-Anenawati said that the idea behind the project also stemmed from her own personal experiences as a parent.

"Since my first child, now 22 years old doing HND, the problem has been there until today," she said.

"There's no change, there's no improvement since he attended that school since he attended kindergarten," she added, explaining that from what she had heard from other parents, other schools have similar issues.

"Why are we Bruneians, with our skills and knowledge, not helping these schools improve their systems?"

Approval from the Ministry of Education as well as the School Board of relevant schools, is needed to go forward, she said.

She noted that there was a lot of protocol they seem to need to observe, as they were proposing significant changes to how the schools handle their finances.

"There would be no more need for receipt books, for example," she said, pointing out that was one method of eliminating fraud in terms of fake receipts.

She also said that while the system already exists in other countries, she had looked into off-the-shelf school management systems and found them pricey, and not necessarily suited to the needs of schools in Brunei.

She also said it was more feasible to customise the software to suit the needs of local private schools here, and take into account of local laws and regulations when generating reports.

Ya-Anenawati said that the team was looking for either a local or foreign company to pick up where they have left off.

"The students are going back to focusing on their studies and I have to return to work," she said.

"Ninety per cent of everything is already there, they would only need to finish the canteen module."

She said that one company had already approached them with an offer, but it was something they would need to consider before accepting.

The Brunei Times