Schools & Education2 October 20264 min read

Absence SMS: Parents Know the Same Morning When a Child Did Not Arrive

A parent drops a child at the gate and goes to work. If the child never walks in, most parents find out at closing time, or never. mySmartAccessCard texts the parent the same morning when there is no check-in by the school's cut-off time.

The worst time to discover a child was not in school is six hours later. Absence SMS closes that gap. Students check in by tapping their SmartAccess card or scanning a QR code, so the school knows who is in. Anyone who has not checked in by the cut-off time is treated as absent, and their parent gets a text.

How it works

1The school sets its resumption time and, if it wants, a separate attendance cut-off time.
2Students check in at the gate or in class with their card.
3Once the cut-off time passes, parents of students with no check-in that day get an SMS.
4Parents of students who did check in get the usual arrival alert instead, so they always hear one or the other.

Who gets the text

Absence and arrival texts go to parents of students on SMS alerts, a small add-on of NGN 2,000 per student for 90 days. The text goes to the phone number captured when the parent was linked.

Why it matters

A missing child is noticed in the morning, not at pickup.
Truancy is harder to hide when the parent hears about it the same day.
No teacher has to make phone calls. It happens automatically.

See how parents also get arrival alerts, or explore mySmartAccessCard for schools.

Questions people ask

How do I know if my child did not get to school?

If your child's school uses mySmartAccessCard with SMS alerts, you get a text the same morning when your child has not checked in by the school's cut-off time.