Building stronger schools by going beyond traditional banking

South Africa’s schools, colleges and universities are places of learning — but behind the classrooms, lecture halls and campuses are increasingly complex organisations dealing with many of the same challenges as other businesses.

Funding, infrastructure, transport, payments and long-term sustainability are just some of the issues education leaders need to manage while still ensuring their institutions can concentrate on their most important job: education.

It’s one of the reasons Standard Bank has developed a dedicated Education Sector team, working with institutions ranging from Early Childhood Development centres and schools to Community Education and Training colleges, TVET colleges and universities.

Speaking to Jeremy Maggs on HOT Business, Johan De Ru, Head: Education Sector, Business and Commercial Banking at Standard Bank South Africa, explained that the approach is built around providing both traditional banking services and solutions that go beyond banking.

For De Ru, that begins with understanding that no two education institutions necessarily face the same challenges.

Standard Bank says it interviewed approximately 400 education institutions while developing its Education Sector value propositions and has continued engaging with clients as their needs evolve.

That process has helped shape a simple philosophy: listen to the institution first and then determine what solutions it actually needs.

So what does “beyond banking” mean in practice — and what can a bank realistically do to help an education institution solve challenges that may have little to do with conventional banking?

In his conversation with Maggs, De Ru explains the difference between simply being a bank and becoming a banking partner. He also shares practical examples of how Standard Bank has responded to challenges facing education institutions and why funding and sustainability remain such important considerations.

Listen to the full HOT Business conversation below to hear how Standard Bank is approaching the education sector differently — and why De Ru believes understanding an institution’s challengesis critical to finding the right solutions.

Listen to his full interview below:

One of the initiatives discussed is GivetoGrow, Standard Bank’s crowdfunding platform for schools.

The platform enables schools to register and launch fundraising campaigns for projects that could range from classrooms and sports facilities to transport and water infrastructure. Those campaigns can then be shared with businesses, alumni, parents and communities to help schools raise the money they need. Where applicable, the platform can also automate the issuing of Section 18A certificates, reducing some of the administrative burden on schools.

It illustrates the distinction Standard Bank is trying to make between traditional banking and “beyond-banking” support.

Traditional banking products remain important for managing an institution’s finances. But the broader objective is to understand the operational and strategic challenges facing education institutions and find solutions that can help address them.

That requires looking at schools and universities differently.

De Ru says they were traditionally viewed simply as places of education, when in reality many are large and complex organisations. Standard Bank’s approach therefore involves asking leadership teams what keeps them awake at night, what they hope to achieve over the next one, three and five years, and what they need from a banking partner.

Ultimately, the measure of success extends beyond growing a banking portfolio.

The objective, De Ru says, is to combine business growth with meaningful impact — helping education institutions achieve their goals and, in doing so, supporting better outcomes for the learners, students and educators they serve.