MORE REMINDERS. MORE FOLLOW-UPS. LESS SCHOOL FEE REVENUE. SOMETHING ISN’T ADDING UP.Featured in June 12 FEDSAS TechTal
MORE REMINDERS. MORE FOLLOW-UPS.
LESS SCHOOL FEE REVENUE.
SOMETHING ISN’T ADDING UP.
Finance teams are sending more messages, making more calls, and following up more frequently than ever before.
Collections rates are declining.
That is not a technology problem. It is an intelligence problem.
If you manage school finances in South Africa, the past two years have likely felt like this: you tightened your follow-up schedule, trained your team to escalate faster, perhaps invested in a bulk SMS tool or a new communication platform. You did more. And yet, at the end of each term, the collection rate told the same story — or a worse one.
This is not unusual. It is, in fact, the dominant pattern across fee-paying schools right now. And the instinct to respond by doing more of the same — more reminders, more calls, more pressure — is understandable. It is also the wrong diagnosis.
The problem is not that your school is not trying hard enough. The problem is that effort, without intelligence, produces noise. And parents, already managing compressed household budgets in a post-COVID economy, have become very good at filtering noise.
THE NUMBERS CONFIRM WHAT BURSARS ALREADY KNOW
66%
Proportion of independent school accounts paid on time in Q1 2024 — down from 75% the prior year.
42%
The on-time payment rate for public fee-paying school accounts.
30%
The proportion of accounts reflecting complete non-payment.
22%
The proportion reflecting partial payment — parents intending to pay, but not in full.
These figures are not outliers. They represent a structural shift in how South African households manage financial obligations. School fees — sitting at the bottom of the payment priority stack with no asset at risk and no credit consequence — are the first to slip.
The schools that responded by increasing communication frequency have not, on average, seen meaningful improvement in these numbers. The schools beginning to see different outcomes are the ones that changed what they know about their parents — not how often they reach out.
THE ACTUAL PROBLEM: YOUR SCHOOL IS FLYING BLIND
Here is what most collections processes have in common: they treat every overdue account the same way.
The parent who missed payment because of a mid-month cash flow problem receives the same reminder as the parent who has not intended to pay since January. The parent who responds immediately to WhatsApp gets a phone call. The parent who only engages after the third contact gets a first reminder. The parent managing genuine financial hardship gets the same message as the parent who simply deprioritised the fee.
This uniformity is not the result of poor intentions. It is the result of a fundamental information gap. Without intelligence about how individual parents actually behave — not just whether they paid, but when, through which channel, after how many touches, and under what circumstances — every contact is a cold start.
Cold starts are expensive. They consume staff time, erode parent trust, and produce inconsistent outcomes at exactly the moment when cash flow certainty matters most.
THE PAYMENT PRIORITY STACK HASN’T CHANGED. THE PRESSURE ON IT HAS.
Understanding why collections is getting harder requires understanding how parents actually allocate scarce income under pressure. Financial obligations are not treated equally:
Secured finance — bonds, vehicle payments — is protected by asset risk.
Unsecured lending — credit cards, personal loans — carries credit consequence.
Required expenses — groceries, utilities, medical — are immediate and unavoidable.
School fees sit at the bottom: no asset at risk, no formal credit consequence, no enforcement mechanism.
This was always the structural challenge. What has changed post-COVID is the size of the population managing genuine affordability compression — and the sophistication with which they manage competing obligations. Parents who intend to pay are making real-time decisions about what to defer.
A reminder, on its own, does not change that calculus. Relevant, timely, personalised engagement — arriving at the right moment, through the right channel, with the right framing — can. That distinction is the difference between collections as administration and collections as intelligence.
WHAT INTELLIGENCE-DRIVEN COLLECTIONS ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE
The schools achieving meaningfully different outcomes are not the ones with the most aggressive follow-up schedules. They are the ones that understand their parent body well enough to engage each family differently. That means knowing:
Which parents will settle after a single WhatsApp, and which require a voice call in their preferred language.
Which accounts show early warning signatures of non-payment — not after the due date passes, but before it.
Which parents are managing temporary hardship and would respond to a structured payment arrangement before they fall into arrears.
Which accounts are likely genuine disputes requiring human judgment, versus those that will self-resolve with the right automated prompt.
None of this requires more staff. It requires better information — and a system that acts on that information automatically, at scale, without the finance team managing every touchpoint manually.
THE SHIFT FROM REACTIVE TO PROACTIVE
The fundamental problem with reminder-based collections is that it is reactive by design. A reminder acknowledges that payment has not arrived and asks for it to come. By that point, the parent has already made a decision — consciously or otherwise — to defer.
Proactive collections looks different. It identifies the accounts most likely to slip before they slip. It surfaces hardship signals early, so the school can respond with the right flexibility at the right time. It offers structured payment arrangements before parents request them. And it executes all of this without requiring a finance team member to make a judgment call on every account individually.
This shift — from reactive administration to proactive intelligence — is not theoretical. It is the operational reality for schools that have moved beyond reminder systems into AI-driven finance infrastructure.
TECHNOLOGY ALONE WILL NOT SOLVE THIS
It would be a mistake to read this as an argument for more technology. South Africa’s schools already have more systems than they can effectively use — finance platforms, parent portals, communication tools, payment rails. The problem is rarely the absence of a system. It is the absence of intelligence connecting those systems to actual parent behaviour.
The schools seeing the best outcomes combine intelligent systems with deliberate change management. That means:
Finance teams that act on insights rather than generate reports.
Governing bodies that have formally approved the school’s engagement policy, so AI-initiated communications are properly authorised.
Clear escalation paths so that genuinely complex cases — hardship, dispute, legal matter — receive human judgment when it matters most.
AI-driven collections is not a replacement for the finance team. It is what makes the finance team capable of operating strategically rather than administratively — at a scale no growing school can manage manually.
THE BOTTOM LINE
More reminders will not fix a structural intelligence gap. The schools that will lead on financial sustainability are not the ones that chase fees most aggressively. They are the ones that understand their parent body well enough to engage the right family, at the right time, through the right channel — before the problem compounds.
The shift from reactive administration to proactive finance intelligence begins with a single question: not “did this parent pay?” but “why did they pay the way they did — and what does that tell us about what they will do next?”
That is the question South Africa’s schools can now answer. And the schools that answer it first will carry meaningfully less bad debt into the next financial year.
knit
INTELLIGENT SCHOOL FEE MANAGEMENT
Improve collections. Reduce admin. Protect school cash flow.
www.knit.cash | info@knit.cash
AI that learns why parents pay
Intelligent bursar co-pilot
Automated reconciliation
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FEDSAS Member | SBMA Gold Member
Disclaimer: This thought piece is provided by Knit Group (Pty) Ltd for general information and discussion purposes only. It does not constitute legal, financial, credit, or regulatory advice, and should not be relied on as a substitute for professional guidance. Any admissions, fee-management, collections, or compliance decisions remain the responsibility of each school and its authorised leadership structures. References to data, outcomes, or examples are illustrative and may vary by school context.
Building a Reading Habit in Schools: Unlocking a Lifetime of Learning with SORA
In an era where screens dominate and attention spans are shrinking, cultivating a strong reading habit in students has never been more crucial. Reading remains the cornerstone of academic success, creativity, and lifelong learning. Yet many schools face a growing challenge: how do we ignite a passion for reading in young minds, especially when competing with digital distractions?
The answer lies not in resisting technology, but in using it smartly. Enter SORA, the award-winning reading app from OverDrive, brought to South African schools by Booktalk. With its digital library of eBooks and audiobooks, SORA makes reading accessible, engaging, and truly enjoyable.
Why Reading Habits Matter
A consistent reading habit improves vocabulary, comprehension, concentration, empathy, critical thinking, and self-expression, not to mention confidence. According to educational research, students who read for pleasure are more likely to perform better across all subjects. Regular readers also show stronger writing skills and emotional intelligence—qualities needed in today’s fast-evolving world.
However, creating a culture of reading goes beyond textbooks. It requires access, variety, and a sense of personal ownership over what and when students read.
The Modern Library, Reinvented: SORA
SORA revolutionises school reading by placing thousands of age-appropriate eBooks and audiobooks directly into the hands of learners—on their smartphones, tablets, or Chromebooks. With just a school login, students can explore a vast digital collection, anytime and anywhere.
From best-selling fiction to curriculum-aligned non-fiction, SORA’s catalogue supports reading for enjoyment and academic development. Its clean interface, built-in dictionary, and reading statistics allow students to track their progress and develop a routine at their own pace.
5 Ways to Build a Reading Habit in Your School with SORA
Start with Choice
Empower students by letting them choose what they read. SORA offers books across genres, levels, and interests—from fantasy to science, mystery to history. When students feel they have a say, they’re more likely to engage.
Make Reading Visible
Promote a reading-friendly culture by encouraging book talks, posters, and digital leaderboards using SORA’s usage stats. Highlight top readers, celebrate milestones, and share book reviews during assemblies or on social media.
Integrate Reading Across Subjects
Encourage teachers to assign SORA books for different subjects. Whether it’s a biography in History or a scientific deep dive in Life Sciences, integrating reading across the curriculum reinforces its importance.
Set Digital Reading Challenges
Gamify reading with friendly competitions and class challenges. Who can read the most pages in a month? Which grade reads the most books? SORA’s usage dashboard makes this easy to track and fun to reward.
Encourage Audiobooks for Reluctant Readers
Not every student loves print reading, but audiobooks can bridge that gap. SORA provides high-quality audiobooks perfect for auditory learners or students who struggle with traditional reading.
Why SORA is Perfect for South African Schools
In a country where access to physical books may be limited, SORA offers a solution that is inclusive, mobile-friendly, and cost-effective. With a growing collection of local and international titles, students in even the most remote schools can be connected to a world of stories and knowledge.
Final Thought
Creating lifelong readers doesn’t happen overnight. It takes planning, exciting resources, and supportive teachers. With SORA from OverDrive, schools now have the tools to bring back the magic of reading, making it part of every student’s daily life.
Let’s empower learners to read, grow, and thrive—one page at a time.
Revolutionary Results: Improving Grades and Wellbeing with Dugga Assessment and SIS Global
As technology continues to play a major role in education, the search for the best online assessment platform has been ongoing. The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), with its vision of being a global leader in applied education and tech-based skills training, took on the task of finding the perfect solution. After extensive research, SAIT set its focus on Dugga, the award-winning digital assessment platform.
The results of the eight-month study, which involved technical students from ten countries worldwide, were nothing short of ground-breaking. The research showed that the use of Dugga improved students’ learning outcomes by 75%, reduced stress by 60%, and increased teacher time efficiency by 98%. Furthermore, there was a clear reduction of exam-related stress and improvement in students’ overall wellbeing.
Dr. Amir Fard, from Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, comments, “The results confirmed the outstanding ability of the Dugga platform to improve students’ subject-matter retention, reduce stress, and improve class average grades. The anonymous feedback from students showed that over 96% of them were strongly satisfied with their Dugga experience.”
SIS Global is the sole authorized Dugga Partner for Africa, bringing this cutting-edge technology to schools in the region. SIS Global has implemented the Dugga solution for various schools in South Africa and offers first line support locally, ensuring a seamless experience for both students and teachers. A perfect example of this is the recent implementation at Christel House – a non-profit school with a single mission: to break the cycle of poverty. It offers no-fee scholarships to students from some of Cape Town’s poorest neighborhoods and supports them for 18 years (Grade R to Grade 12 and five years post matric) through character-based and career-focused education.
“With the proven results of the research conducted at SAIT, we are confident that the implementation of Dugga will have a positive impact on the education system in South Africa. The platform’s ability to improve learning outcomes, reduce stress, and increase teacher efficiency is sure to make a significant difference in the classroom’, says Ian Bailey, Head of Education at SIS Global.
The co-founders of Dugga, Dr. Claudia Rademaker and Dr. Patrik Nilsson, were ecstatic about the results of the study. They stated, “We are thrilled to learn about these results of this new independent research study. It gives our entire team an energy boost to continue developing our platform to help schools worldwide improve learning outcomes and wellbeing with quality and equality in assessment.”
The platform has received high praise from students and is a testament to the potential of technology in education. SIS Global’s mission is to bring innovative technology solutions to Africa and improve the quality of education in the region. The company’s partnership with Dugga is a testament to this mission and will help shape the future of education in Africa.
Theresa (from USA) who attended our recently hosted Grassland Society SA Conference
Thank you so much Paul! With the time change and watching these recorded, no technical issue on my end.
Thank you
Theresa
