New payment system a hit with parents
East Renfrewshire Council say that their online school payment system has been a huge hit with parents.
The local authority introduced their ParentPay portal in 2016/17, making it easy for kids to pay for school meals and other activities.
And new figures show that the popularity of the payment scheme, which is available for all parents to use, has increased over the last three years.
By digitising this service, it has made it more convenient for parents to pay for meals, trips and after-school activities, whilst also reducing the cash transactions needing to be handled by the schools.
Prior to the introduction of the ParentPay online portal in 2016/17, just 30 per cent of all school meals were paid for using the previous online system, which the council say was“less user-friendly”.
The new system though has a usership of 78 per cent of parents, with an impressive 98 per cent of other payments for school activities now also made online through the portal.
Councillor Paul O’Kane, convener for education and equalities, said:“We are an ambitious, forward-thinking council and we are continually looking at ways to improve the way we deliver services.
“Modernising our processes ensures that they are as streamlined as possible and also makes it easier for our residents.”
He added: “The introduction of ParentPay has revolutionised our catering service. It is easy for parents and carers to load money onto their child’s account and that means that there is no more worrying about children carrying cash to school.
“It also saves time for our hard-working catering staff and allows them to focus all of their energies on ensuring that pupils are served up the most appetising and nutritious meals possible to help feed their bodies and minds.”
It’s easier to load money, meaning there’s no worrying about children carrying cash...