Schoolpal eases stress of buying textbooks and supplies

AT the start of year three in its operation, ttschoolpal.com co-founder Makesi Paul said the organisation, born out of necessity in the wake of the covid19 pandemic, has remained relevant and has broadened its realm of impact in providing services of sourcing and delivering school supplies to customers. While SchoolPal is a for-profit business they are a social enterprise that also works through Charity organizations to assist those in need.

"My business partner, Nicholas Marshall, and I conceptualised the service in 2019."

Paul said the organisation has seen almost 4,000 subscribers for various services and has assisted over 300 students with school supplies, many of whom the organisation has assisted since inception. This evolved from a charitable initiative aligned with the NGO Halimah's Helping Hands (HHH).

 "Other charitable organisations have come on board to assist students, including the Rotary Foundation and Rotaract Club of Port of Spain West through their charity drives. Last year we collaborated to assist about 90 students at the beginning of the school year."

While serving as president of the Rotaract Club of Port of Spain  West, Paul did collaborative work with Halimah's Helping Hands (HHH). He was inspired by its work, and has been collaborating with the NGO since the launch of  ttschoolpal.com in 2020.

HHH was founded in 2014 by Hisham and Haajra Mohammed following the death of their daughter, Halimah, who died at 11 due to hemorrhagic pneumonia.

"They would get books, bags, uniforms, socks, shoes, pencil cases and other supplies for students whose parents could not afford everything necessary for school through their networks. They already had the experience providing the service for less fortunate children."

Paul said ttschoolpal.com decided to mirror the service by facilitating the sale of school supplies to students at a cost, with the aim of HHH's approach to assisting those in need.

"A percentage of costs paid by children whose parents can afford our services go toward assisting children whose parents cannot afford the services. If we have one per cent of the total population of students utilising our services, we could afford to assist many children meet their needs."

He said the addition of information communication technology (ICT) and data analytics via its website, with references to past examination papers, saw the service getting closer to the initial vision to democratize education regardless of levels of schooling.

"We collaborated with Gabcol for our website which was a match made in business heaven. Features of the website, of which we are proud, are those which help level the playing field. One of these is a feature which assists in locating where books are available and compares prices of each book from various bookshops."

Paul said getting a booklist delivered can be a one week for most parents – which can now be made less tedious and even non-existent for some parents through services available on ttschoolpal.com.

"Parents are excited to save time and energy, not having to leave work for tedious book shopping. Our motto, Creating convenience, means we are doing just that for parents and students."

He said while upkeep of some features of the website are difficult to upkeep, they add great value and provide services that did not exist in TT before the launch.

"The responsibility of a business is to contribute the society that buoys it"

"Next year we will begin a partnership with tutoring service Just Ask, where students can just ask teachers questions and will be supplied with responses." Students and parents who subscribe are also connected to a catalogue of educators affiliated with ttschoolpal.com for extra lessons and online tutorials.

Paul said the team at ttschoolpal.com is excited as students from across the region from islands such as Jamaica, Guyana and St Lucia have been visiting the website to access past papers and price comparisons.

"The intention is that they will also be able to access Just Ask, which would connect them to tutors who would work with them. That's the future."

Paul said the organisation depends heavily on data as the data guides its decisions in providing for needs that are most in demand.

He said children from across TT from both rural  and urban areas such as Lopinot and Chinapoo.

"I have delivered books and bags. It has been heartwarming."

The website facilitates donations for those who are able to assist students in need. People may donate funds, books or other back-to-school supplies right from the website.

"We are also an affiliate partner of the National Parent Teachers Association of TT (NPATT). So our integrity and credibility are housed there."

 He said the partnership allows them to have great insight into the needs of children and the curriculum from year-to-year, which allows the organisation to supply services and assist students in need in the ways that mean most to them.

"It is really an education network that wants to facilitate the growth and accessibility of education. There are levels to access in TT and we are proud to do our part to level the playing field. We look forward to doing more for students through organizations like HHH and Moms for Literacy. Through the  thorough means testing of HHH, Paul said the organisation has set a target to help send at least 100 students back to school at the start of the 2022-2023 school year.

"This coming semester may be the first time many students will be fully returning to physical classrooms. We look forward to serving these and many other students."