HexerSMS, our school management system for Ghanaian schools

HexerSMS is the school management system we're building for nursery, primary and JHS schools in Ghana. It keeps a school's fees, registers, marks and terminal reports in one place, and it works from any phone or laptop.

It's still in development. This post covers what it does, why we're building it, and how your school can get early access.

Why we're building it

A school term runs on paperwork. Fees are written into receipt books. Every class keeps its own register. Each mark is added up and copied onto a report card by hand. When a parent asks what they still owe, someone goes through the books.

HexerSMS is there to carry that work. Records are entered once, and everyone who needs them reads the same ones: the office, the teachers and parents at home.

We built it around how basic schools here actually run. Fees are set in cedis. Payments come in as cash, Mobile Money or bank transfers. Marks follow the GES school-based assessment. Parents are reached by text message, because not every parent reads email or installs an app.

For the head and the school office

The office sets fees once for each class, from a template. When a payment comes in, it's recorded once, against the right child. The parent gets a text with the balance still due, and there's a printable receipt for every payment. During the term, the office can text a reminder to every parent who still owes.

The office also looks after students, teachers, classes, timetables and the school calendar. Each school year starts with First, Second and Third Term on your own dates, and you can add terms of your own. Pupils can be added one by one, or a whole class list can be imported from an Excel or CSV file.

When a term ends, the school can lock it, so its marks, attendance and payments can no longer be edited. A lock can be undone if something needs fixing. When the year ends, pupils move up into their next class, and last year's marks, fees and attendance stay on record.

Every school's records are kept apart from every other school's. Staff see only the school they work at, and only administrators record payments. There's an audit log, a login history and a list of active sessions, so the office can see who has signed in.

For teachers

Class teachers mark the register on their own phone, one tap per pupil: present, absent, late or excused. The term's totals go straight onto each report card.

Scores go into the mark book as the term goes. A school can use the GES school-based assessment preset or set its own weights. The preset counts four class tasks at 12.5% each (individual test, group exercise, class test and project work), with the end-of-term exam as the other half.

From the mark book, HexerSMS works out totals, positions and the terminal report, ready for the class teacher's remarks. On the report, marks can be shown as a percentage, a letter grade or on the scale of 1 to 9.

Nursery works differently. Instead of subject marks, the class teacher records developmental milestones (physical, cognitive, social, emotional and language), and they appear on the pupil's report.

Once a teacher finalizes a subject, its marks are locked. If they spot a mistake later, they send a correction request, and the office approves or rejects it. A teacher sees only the classes they teach this term.

For parents and pupils

When the office creates a pupil's account, the family gets a text with the pupil's Student ID and a link to set a password. At home, pupils and their parents sign in with that Student ID and use the same portal to see:

• Published report cards
• The attendance record
• The fee balance and payments
• The class timetable

Announcements from teachers show up there too, and pupils can message their teachers. There's nothing to install. HexerSMS runs in the web browser, on a phone or a laptop.

Where it stands

Most of what's above is already built, and there's a preview build online. It isn't open to schools yet, and there's still work to do before it is.

When a school comes on, we start by walking you through a demo school with a full term of records. Then we set up your school ourselves, and your administrator gets a text with a link to set their password. Questions and account help come straight to us.

If you run a nursery, primary or JHS school and want early access, email us at info@hexerize.com. Tell us about your school and we'll let you know when it opens up. In the meantime, you can look around the preview.