Safe and sound in schools
Gokula Krishnan (left) and co-founder Paresh Khetani.
Its features allow parents to monitor their children’s finances and to guide them to good eating and purchasing habits. The app also has a range of payment controls.
Being a father himself, Vircle’s cofounder and chief executive officer Gokula Krishnan, 42, says the widening gap in child nurturing, health and wellness is impacting the well-being of children.
“If we take obesity and under-nourishment as an example, it is almost impossible to predict children who are at risk. But through our cashless approach to nurturing, we show parents in a simple-to-understand manner their children’s nutrition intake at school, and coach them on how to complement in-school eating with home nutrition.
“As parents, we want our children to be successful not only academically, but also in other aspects of life.
“Months of research have been spent with educators, child development specialists, psychologists, and banking and finance experts to ensure that our innovation will impact the life of children positively,” says Gokula.
iNNOVatiNG SPeNDiNG HaBitS PareNtaL CONtrOL
The Vircle app interface.
like debit cards and wearables, where payments proceed directly from a parent’s wallet to stores, many aspects have to be considered.
Among them are security, multiple identity management and supervision issues.
“It took us 10 months to convince regulators we have a secure framework to allow primary schoolchildren to safely transact with Vircle under their parents’ care,” says Gokula.
He spent his early professional years abroad before returning to the country in 2012 under the Talent Corp Returning Expert Programme, where he led then multinational telecommunications company Ericsson’s media and broadcast practice for the region.
“Being a start-up, innovation is at our core,” he adds.
How does the Vircle smartphone application work?
Its e-wallet feature enables digital allowances to be provided to children with rules on how they will spend it. The app provides insight into purchase and consumption behaviour, which will be converted into health, nutrition and financial advice.
“Vircle is built by parents for parents. It’s extremely child-friendly and the first that enables both parents and children to co-exist in a single e-wallet platform,” says Gokula.
With the reopening of schools, pupils may need to pre-order meals from canteens and consume them in classrooms.
Schools that partner with Vircle will allow parents to monitor and decide what their children eat at school. Digital spending approvals ensure that the child can make purchases only at pre-determined stalls.
In line with the National Strategy for Financial Literacy 2019-2023 initiative, Vircle’s ultimate goal is to expand its reach to educational institutions, including universities.
Currently, more than 14 schools have come onboard, reveals Gokula. If a handphone is not permitted in schools, especially for primary school pupils, the company has come up with a Vircle student card as an alternative to using its services.
aCCeSSiBiLitY
As for cost, Gokula says the Vircle service will not cost schools anything while parents are only charged if they opt for advanced features.
To make it attractive to children, Vircle is “gamifying” food intake based on nutrition scores. Gamification is the application of game-design elements and principles in non-game contexts. The objective is to motivate children to choose healthier food options at school.
“With children, it’s hard to force choices onto them. With Vircle, children get rewarded with points for their choices. Some participating schools are already planning leader boards to allow children to compete and gain recognition for their positive choices.
“The same gamification concept is employed across other aspects of nurturing, such as financial literacy to allow children to save their unused allowance towards different goals; for self-achievement and for causes that they can donate to,” adds Gokula.
The Vircle app is available on Apple App Store and Google Play.