SSIMS Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms & Eligibility

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) constitute a legally binding agreement between you (“User”, “School Administrator”, or “Institution”) and SSIMS (“we”, “us”, or “our”), governing your access to and use of the Secondary School Information Management System platform, web portals, APIs, and associated services (collectively, the “Service”).

By registering an account, registering an educational institution, checking the acceptance box during signup or onboarding, or accessing any part of the Service, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with these Terms, you must not access or use the Service.

2. Institutional Authority & School Representative Warranties

If you register or administer an educational institution on SSIMS (such as a secondary school, community day secondary school, private academy, or mission school), you explicitly represent and warrant that:

• You are an authorized representative of the educational institution (e.g., Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher, School Administrator, or Board Trustee) with full legal authority to bind the school to these Terms.
• All institutional credentials, registration documents, and contact details submitted during onboarding and verification are truthful, accurate, and complete.
• The institution maintains appropriate legal authority and parental/guardian consent to manage student and academic records on the platform.

3. User Accounts, Roles & Security

Access to SSIMS is role-based (including Super Administrator, School Administrator, Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher, Bursar, Teacher, Student, and Guardian). Each individual user account is designated for a single user and must not be shared.

Users are responsible for safeguarding their login credentials and for all activities conducted under their account. You must notify SSIMS immediately of any unauthorized use or security breach. SSIMS reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate security protocols or role assignments.

4. Subscription Plans, Free Trial & Billing Terms

SSIMS offers tiered subscription plans (including Starter, Standard, and Pro tiers) tailored to secondary school capacity and student enrollment.

• Free Trial: New schools may be provisioned with a 30-day Free Trial period. Upon expiration of the trial, access to administrative and operational features requires an active paid subscription or approved sponsorship.
• Billing Cycles & Currency: Subscriptions are billed per month or annually in Malawi Kwacha (MWK) or specified contract currencies.
• Payment Processing: Payments may be facilitated through authorized payment partners (such as PayChangu, Airtel Money, Mpamba, or National Bank of Malawi transfers). Users agree to comply with payment terms and ensure timely settlement.
• Grace Periods & Suspension: In the event of an overdue subscription, a defined grace period may be granted before operational access is restricted to billing and archival views.

5. Institutional Data Ownership & License

The educational institution retains all right, title, and interest in and to its institutional data, including student enrollment files, grades, exam transcripts, financial ledger entries, attendance logs, and guardian records (“School Data”).

The institution grants SSIMS a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide license to host, copy, process, and display School Data strictly to the extent necessary to provide, secure, maintain, and support the Service, or as required by applicable law or authorized EMIS integrations.

6. Acceptable Use & Platform Integrity

You agree not to misuse the Service or assist any other party in doing so. Prohibited activities include, without limitation:

• Attempting to bypass authentication, role-based permissions, subscription gates, or security filters.
• Altering, forging, or tampering with academic grades, promotion records, financial clearances, or verification documents.
• Introducing malware, viruses, scrapers, automated exploitation scripts, or denial-of-service vectors.
• Using the platform to send unsolicited commercial broadcasts or violate national education regulations.

7. Service Availability & Maintenance

We strive to maintain high availability and reliability for educational institutions. However, the Service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. Scheduled maintenance, emergency security patches, or telecommunication interruptions may occasionally affect availability. Where practicable, scheduled maintenance will be communicated in advance.

8. Disclaimer of Warranties & Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, SSIMS and its contributors disclaim all warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, statutory, or otherwise, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular educational purpose, and non-infringement.

In no event shall SSIMS, its operators, or licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including loss of data, loss of goodwill, or business interruption arising out of or in connection with the use or inability to use the Service.

9. Versioning, Policy Updates & Re-acceptance

We may revise these Terms from time to time to reflect regulatory developments, platform improvements, or new features. When material changes are made, we will update the version number and effective date.

Continued use of the Service following notice of updated Terms requires explicit re-acceptance through the application portal. Acceptance records (including version number, timestamp, user identifier, and IP address) are stored for compliance auditability.

10. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

These Terms and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Malawi, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any legal proceedings shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts of Malawi.

11. Contact & Institutional Inquiries

For institutional inquiries, compliance verifications, or questions regarding these Terms, please contact: