TAMS: Reimagined EdTech solution for schools & third-party agents

Crownbirth Limited, an EdTech start-up that is based in Ogun State, Nigeria, has launched a uniquely designed multi-stakeholders cloud-based School Management System called TAMS – Technology-Assisted Academic Management System. The launch event was held at the Conference Hotel, Abeokuta, Ogun State on Wednesday, 25 November 2020 under the theme – TAMS: EdTech Reimagined. Former Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, incumbent Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof Abayomi Arigbabu joined other industry leaders: Mr Bosun Tijani (Founder & CEO of CCHub), Mr Ajibade Laolu-Adewale (Head of Partnership, Digital Solutions and FINTECH at WEMA Bank) and Dr Adefunke Ekine (Deputy Director, Research and External Relations at Tai Solarin University of Education, Ogun State) as speakers at the event. 

The trajectory of Crownbirth Limited began with its registration as a company in 2006 and deployment of its first version of TAMS as a software product in 2013 at Tai Solarin University of Education, Ogun State, Nigeria. Between 2013 and 2019, TAMS has iterated three (3) cycles of product life, with each cycle building on knowledges and experiences from the previous cycle to extend its functionalities to model education requirements and ensure stability in the proof-of-concept of the solution. By 2019, TAMS has deployed to five (5) tertiary education institutions in Ogun State, with some of them switching to TAMS because of its stability, robustness and adaptability to their needs and requirements. The TAMS Pro is offered as a dedicated, customised and scalable school management system for tertiary education institutions. Meanwhile, the TAMS Basic is launched as a version for the basic schools.

Within 6 months of launching TAMS Basic on https://edutams.net as a cloud-based solution, over 100 basic schools across Ogun State and environs have been on-boarded due to the fact that the portal is fit-for-purpose and on the strength that it is well researched to deliver integrated modules with user experiences that delivers on the needs and requirements of schools. TAMS basic features capture and respond to the reality of the post-COVID era for educators, parents, teachers and the government. 

The TAMS is set to be a leading EdTech solution in Nigeria and the Africa market space with adaptive solution offerings that deliver new experiences to education stakeholders. Unlike other school management systems, TAMS Basic adds greater value by uniquely providing schools with personalized cloud platform with integrated features to automate key school activities and deliver quality education needed for schools to stay competitive in the post-COVID era. 

Furthermore, TAMS also uniquely provides a customizable platform for Banks, FinTech, EduConsults and other third-party agents to offer the solution as a valued-added service to schools under their respective brand. TAMS, therefore, has the potential to transform the education system as well as support stakeholders to build a profitable ecosystem for employment, profitability and value generation. Interested Banks, FinTech, Third-party Agents and Schools can register on https://edutams.net to create a profile and customise it to onboard and service schools on the TAMS platform, and get commission on subscription paid by the schools.

TAMS’ new approach to school management system is based on a well-researched structured framework for basic and tertiary education systems. This positions TAMS as a leading school management system in Nigeria and Africa with strong knowledge power to set new pace and direction in the EdTech ecosystem. The unique value propositions of TAMS Basic are described within the context of its new features and approaches to the delivery of school management system with:

1. Personalisation that offers each school automated subdomain and self-defined colour themes to maintain individual school identity.
2. Self-Boarding with DIY approach that offers new experience for administrators to effortlessly  start and complete school set-up process in simplified structured stages 
3. Optimised Platform that uses light-weight technologies with integrated modules to automate key school processes; giving cross-platform data analytic to support decision-making process.
4. Agency Approach that empowers corporate individuals with personalised platform to provide school management solution as a service to schools and earn commission in return. 
5. Integrated Payment that rides on custom payment gateway to process and settle fees/payment collections at extremely lower charges.

The motivation for the development of TAMS Basic is borne-out of the fact that there are over 85,000 basic schools in Nigeria with increasing realisation for a pressing need to adopt technology to drive education and school system, especially in the post-COVID Nigeria. With an average of 500 schools being served by each of the 10 leading school management solution providers in Nigeria, the addressable market space is still at an approximate 95%. Ogun State, being a leading state in education, with over 5,000 basic schools and over 10 tertiary education institutions is significantly un-served by any known major school management solution provider. This gap will be filled by TAMS!

TAMS is therefore, offered as a school management solution with better user-experience that drifts stakeholders perception to technology adoption and encourages mutually-beneficial partnership that can extend the penetration to other markets to gain greater competitive and comparative advantage. The integrated self-boarding and agency approach to the TAMS Basic platform is a unique business model that has the potential to give TAMS greater market penetration and good returns on investment.

We deliver TAMS Pro with customised plan and payment. Meanwhile, the TAMS Basic is delivered with a unified single login interface for all stakeholders with flexible subscription plans for schools to gain access to these features to automate most of their school processes and operations, thus:

• Self-Service Setup - structured and staged setup platform
• User Profile Manager - users - administrators, teachers, students and parents
• Roles & Permissions - creates and assigns roles and permissions to users
• Academic Manager - manages academic units, curriculum and scheme of works
• Registration Manager - enrols and manages students in classes.
• Admissions Manager - manages application batches including entrance exams
• Bursary Manager - manages cash and online collection of various fees
• Digital Class - interactive platforms for live video-led classes & Lesson Notes
• Attendance Manager - marking attendance online and sharing notifications
• Messaging Channel - internal messaging platform for all users to communicate
• Result Processing - result processing with choice of result sheet templates
• E-Assessment Manager - simplified quiz and assignment platform
• Video Tutorials - open video resources for topics in scheme of works
• Transport Manager - manages school fleet of buses and schedules
• Hostel Manager - manages allocation of bed spaces and boarding system
• Activity Log - audits trails and log of all user activities 
• Subscription Manager - flexible internal subscription payment platform

We understand the challenge of school management especially around limited funding and appropriation. We also understand the apprehension of schools on technology adoption. We have, thus, designed and offered TAMS Basic on a flexible subscription model that fits into the different contexts and statuses of schools. We pride ourselves in offering a much robust school management system at the lowest price in the market, today. We will continue to review subscription plans and prices, focusing on affordability and clients’ satisfaction. 

With a traction of on boarding over 100 schools within the first six (6) months of launching, we plan to explore the customised Agency Platform on TAMS Basic to expand the market penetration and reach in Nigeria and Africa within the next one (1) year. The target is to board over two thousand (2,000) schools by Q4 2021 to be an industry leader in Africa’s EdTech space. As a demonstration of the will and potential to achieve this target, we have engaged in partnership with Wema Bank, Xpress Payment System, NAPPS (Ogun State Chapter) and other Third-Party Agents to onboards schools and begin to deliver unique values and digital transformation of the education system that will almost be unprecedented.

Aside the guest of honour and speakers, the TAMS Launch event was also honoured by stakeholders from the Government, Academia, Banks, School Associations, Investment Companies and other education stakeholders. 

It is, however, interesting to remark that Crownbirth Limited has consistently focused on the development of TAMS with a mission to make it the leading EdTech solution in Africa. Mr Ademola Adenubi, a doctoral researcher in Framework for Integrated EMIS Development at the University of South Africa, is the Founder and CEO of Crownbirth Limited and works with a dedicated team of highly professional and motivated solution providers that share the passion and commitment to use their skills to assist education service providers to run their schools in the most efficient and effective way using the scalable and secured TAMS as a School Management System.

Thanking you for being a part of this new ‘big-thing’ in the EdTech space. TAMS is the new big-thing!

About us

Crownbirth Limited, Who we are: A fast-growing software development company with dedicated team of highly professional and motivated solution architects that share the passion and commitment to use our skills to assist education service providers to run their schools in the most efficient and effective way using our scalable and secured TAMS as a SchoolManagement System

What we do

We research and develop TAMS as a scalable school management system that addresses the inherent challenges in school administration by creating a secured digital platform for school administrators, teachers, students and parents to interact and ease the performance of their operations.