For many families, keeping a child in school is a long-term commitment built on planning, sacrifice and financial consistency. Parents and guardians organise their finances term by term, often making difficult choices to ensure that a child’s education continues without interruption.
But when the person carrying that financial responsibility dies, that stability can change almost immediately.
For a family already dealing with loss, school fees can quickly become another source of uncertainty. For the child, the concern is more immediate: will my education continue?
That is the question SchoolPay is seeking to address through Asome by SchoolPay, a new initiative designed to support education continuity in the unfortunate event of the death of a registered parent or guardian.
Under Asome, SchoolPay will support the payment of a child’s school fees for the next three school terms, subject to the applicable verification process and programme requirements.
Parents and guardians using SchoolPay will not need to complete a separate registration or make an additional payment to access the benefit, subject to programme requirements.
The payments will be made directly to the child’s school, helping ensure that the support remains focused on keeping the child in education.
Asome by SchoolPay is expected to become active from November 2026, subject to final rollout confirmation.
Practical support
The process is designed to work through the existing relationship between the family, the school and SchoolPay.
Where a registered parent or guardian dies, the school will notify SchoolPay after being informed by the family. SchoolPay will then engage both the school and the family to verify the circumstances and complete the required documentation before the benefit is activated.
Fincom CEO Charity Atukwatsa explains: “The process begins with the school. Once the family notifies the school of the death of the registered parent or guardian, the school informs SchoolPay.”
The verification process may include documentation such as a death certificate and evidence of previous school-fee payments. Once the process is completed, SchoolPay will begin paying the child’s school fees for the following three terms.
The initiative also recognises that a child’s education journey may change during that period.
For example, if a registered parent or guardian dies while a child is completing Primary Seven and the child transitions to secondary school the following term, the support can continue at the new school for the next three terms, subject to the applicable programme requirements.
That flexibility is important because education continuity is not simply about paying the next school-fee invoice. It is about helping ensure that a disruption in a family’s circumstances does not automatically become a disruption in a child’s schooling.
Asome sits within the broader Do More with SchoolPay campaign and reflects a wider shift in how SchoolPay is creating value across the education sector.
While SchoolPay has traditionally been known for simplifying education payments for parents and schools, the platform has steadily expanded beyond the transaction itself.
The wider SchoolPay ecosystem now includes tools and services designed around different aspects of the school, parent and student experience.
Through S-Wallet, parents can send pocket money to students digitally. SchoolPay’s ERP solutions support schools in managing student records, attendance, academics, finance, accounting, examinations and other administrative functions.
SchoolPay Medical further extends the ecosystem by helping schools manage student medical information and related health processes.
Asome builds on that same approach.
Rather than viewing SchoolPay only as the point at which a school fee is paid, the initiative reflects a broader ambition to create value around the full education journey, including moments when families need more than a payment channel.
Education does not exist in isolation. It sits within an ecosystem of schools, parents, students, financial institutions and technology partners, each playing a role in keeping the journey moving.
Asome is one example of how SchoolPay is extending its role within that ecosystem.
For a family facing the loss of a parent or guardian, three school terms can provide something particularly important: time.
It can provide time to reorganise household responsibilities, allow another guardian to assume financial responsibility and, most importantly, give the child an opportunity to remain focused on school while the family finds its footing.
That is the broader proposition behind Do More with SchoolPay: moving beyond the payment itself and building solutions around the realities that shape the education journey.
Asome by SchoolPay is therefore positioned not simply as a payment benefit, but as a practical intervention aimed at helping families protect a child’s education when circumstances suddenly change. Asome by SchoolPay. When life takes a turn, education goes on.
