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School Management After COVID-19: Rebuilding Systems for a New Normal

Kenyan schools reopened in January 2021 after the longest closure in the country's modern education history. What they returned to was not business as usual. COVID-19 had permanently changed parent expectations, government requirements and the operational landscape. Schools that had invested in digital systems were better positioned to rebuild quickly.

The Changed Landscape

Several things were fundamentally different when schools reopened:

• Fee arrears had accumulated — many parents had lost income during the closure. Schools were reopening to significant outstanding fee balances alongside new term charges.
• Parents expected digital communication — the pandemic had normalised WhatsApp and SMS as primary communication channels. Parents who had received regular closure updates expected the same responsiveness going forward.
• Health protocols required new tracking — temperature checks, sanitisation records and class occupancy limits all required documentation.
• Staggered reopening — different year groups returned at different times, requiring more flexible timetabling and attendance tracking than before.

Managing Accumulated Fee Arrears

The fee arrears challenge was significant. Many schools had a substantial portion of their student body returning with one or more terms of outstanding fees. The most effective approach combined:

• A clear arrears policy — communicated in advance of reopening, specifying minimum payment required to resume classes and a structured repayment timeline
• Personalised parent outreach — not a generic reminder, but a personal contact from the class teacher or school bursar for families with significant arrears
• Flexible payment plans — spreading arrears over two to three terms while collecting current fees in full
• Digital payment options — making it as easy as possible to pay via M-Pesa from home, without coming to the school office

Digital Infrastructure That Proved Its Value

Schools emerged from COVID-19 with a much clearer understanding of which digital investments had real value:

• Cloud-based systems — the ability to manage school operations from anywhere proved critical during closures and remained valuable after
• M-Pesa integration — contactless, remote fee payment became the default rather than the exception
• Bulk SMS — schools that could communicate with every parent instantly were far better prepared for the frequent policy changes during reopening
• Parent portals — parents who could check their balance, download statements and view results without coming to the office significantly reduced office traffic during health restriction periods

What Schools Should Do Differently Going Forward

The COVID-19 experience crystallised several best practices that every school should embed permanently:

1. Maintain a digital, cloud-accessible record of every student, parent contact and financial transaction
2. Have at least two administrators trained on the school management system — key person dependency is a serious operational risk
3. Test your communication systems regularly — do not wait for a crisis to discover that 20% of parent phone numbers are outdated
4. Have a documented business continuity plan that includes remote working procedures