Young Tanzanian woman behind popular education app

DAR ES SALAAM: IN a quiet innovation hub in Dar es Salaam’s Sinza suburb, Ms Nuru Lema, 36, is turning a childhoodlike vision of a technology-driven education system into a growing business with ambitions stretching beyond Tanzania.

As the founder and Chief Executive Officer of YanaCorp, a digital services start-up, Ms Lema leads a team of young software developers working to transform how schools manage information, communicate with parents and handle day-to-day administration.

At the centre of her ambition is ShuleApp, an education technology (EdTech) platform designed to help schools replace cumbersome paper-based systems with faster, more organised digital solutions.

For Ms Lema, digitising education is not simply about introducing computers into schools. It is about making information more accessible to teachers, parents and students while saving time and improving efficiency.

“The ShuleApp is a completely EdTech solution that helps schools to digitalise their administration systems, encompassing dissemination of student examination results, provision of fee invoices and storage of all school records on a single digital platform,” she told the SUNDAY NEWS in an interview.

Through the platform, parents can access information about their children, including examination results, fee invoices, payment updates and other important school notices without necessarily visiting the school.

“There is no need for parents to go to school to pay fees or collect fee invoices. They only need to have the mobile app, which allows them to log in and access all information about their children in their respective schools. ShuleApp is digitising schools,” she said.

The system also allows teachers to upload examination and assessment results directly, while school administrators can monitor fee payments and identify outstanding balances.

For parents with more than one child, Ms Lema said the platform could provide information on each child based on their registration details.

The application can also maintain records of students’ behaviour, giving parents a broader picture of their children’s academic progress and conduct.

But Ms Lema’s biggest concern is ensuring that digital transformation does not leave behind families who cannot regularly afford internet data.

“Parents can receive information about their children, including academic results, fee-related updates and other important notices without necessarily having to visit the school,” she said.

She said the company had developed a version that enables parents to receive updates without necessarily requiring mobile data, with the innovation supported by a 70,000 US dollar (185m/- ) grant from the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship.

Since its commercial launch in 2024, the platform has been adopted by nine private schools in Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Coast, Kilimanjaro and Arusha, with YanaCorp also expanding its presence in Zanzibar.

Ms Lema said the company was now targeting regions where digital adoption remained relatively low, particularly southern Tanzania.

“We want to expand more into the regions because we have seen that Dar es Salaam already has many technology solutions and many schools have adopted technology early,” she said.

Looking ahead, Ms Lema wants ShuleApp to grow into a leading school management solution across East Africa within the next eight years.

The company has already conducted research in Uganda as it explores opportunities to expand into the neighbouring market.

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“We want to be a leading EdTech solution not only in Tanzania but across East Africa. We want to help schools get rid of analogue systems,” she said.

With a target of reaching more than 300 schools over the next eight years, Ms Lema believes technology can help create a more connected, efficient and inclusive education system.