Case studies
Case study · Education — schools debating programme
Tore's
Foundation
A debating platform for 24 schools
Delivered
One web platform for a schools debating programme: competitions, live standings, and coaches’ expenses and stipends claimed, checked and paid in one place.
Project overview
Project snapshot
Responsibilities and status, stated plainly. Where the record is silent — a date, a measured result — the page says so rather than guessing.
- Industry
- Education — schools debating programme
- Target users
- The programme team, coaches at 24 Western Cape schools, and more than 430 learners whose results and standings the platform tracks
- GEMIS’s role
- Designer and builder of the platform, commissioned by the University of Stellenbosch Business School
- Scope
- Competition set-up and results, live league standings, mobile expense and stipend claims, claim verification and a single payment batch to finance
- Status
- Delivered
- Key deliverables
- Competition set-up in minutes: schools, rounds, motions and judges; Results captured as each debate ends, with standings updating straight away through to the year-end final; Coaches claiming expenses and stipends from their phones: pick the session, snap the receipt, submit; Claims checked against the sessions actually run, then approved; One approved payment batch sent to finance
The business challenge
A debating platform for 24 schools
Built for the University of Stellenbosch Business School: competitions, live standings, mobile expense and stipend claims for 430+ learners.
Every week, Tore’s Foundation runs debating for more than 430 learners in 24 schools across the Western Cape. Behind every debate is a coach, a competition to run, and expenses and stipends to pay.
On paper, all of that was slow for everyone: results were compiled after the fact, standings lagged, and coaches’ claims had to be gathered, matched to sessions and paid one by one.
The University of Stellenbosch Business School asked GEMIS to build one platform that would run the competition and the money side of the programme together.
Discovery and evidence
What the design was based on
Only the evidence that exists is described here. Nothing is labelled research that was not.
The record holds no research report for this project. The design follows the programme as it runs: every week, debating for more than 430 learners in 24 schools, each debate with a coach, a competition to run, and expenses and stipends to pay — all of it previously on paper.
The University of Stellenbosch Business School asked for one platform that would run the competition and the money side of the programme together.
Strategy and system structure
Why this approach fits the problem
- One platform for the debates and the admin behind them
- Results live, as they happen
- Claims matched to sessions before they are paid
GEMIS built a single web platform rather than separate tools. Competitions are set up in minutes — schools, rounds, motions and judges — and results are captured as each debate ends, so the standings update straight away, right through to the year-end final.
The same web app handles the money. Coaches claim expenses and stipends from their phones by picking the session, photographing the receipt and submitting.
The programme team checks every claim against the sessions actually run, approves it, and sends one payment batch to finance — so payment is both faster and verifiable.
The University of Stellenbosch Business School asked GEMIS to build one web platform for Tore's Foundation's weekly debating programme (430+ learners, 24 Western Cape schools). Competitions are set up in minutes, results are captured as debates end with live league standings, coaches claim expenses and stipends from their phones, and the programme team approves matched claims and sends one payment batch to finance.
Read the transcript
Every week, Tore's Foundation runs debating for more than 430 learners in 24 schools across the Western Cape. Behind every debate is a coach, a competition to run, and expenses and stipends to pay. On paper, that was slow for everyone. The University of Stellenbosch Business School asked GEMIS to build one web platform for the programme. Competitions are set up in minutes: schools, rounds, motions and judges. Results are captured as each debate ends, and the standings update straight away, right through to the year-end final. Coaches claim expenses and stipends in the same web app: pick the session, snap the receipt, submit. The programme team checks every claim against the sessions actually run, approves it, and sends one payment batch to finance. More time for debate. Less time on admin. Built by GEMIS.
The workflow as implemented
- Competition set up Schools, rounds, motions and judges, in minutes
- Results captured As each debate ends
- Standings live Updated straight away, through to the year-end final
- Claims from the phone Pick the session, snap the receipt, submit
- Checked Every claim matched to a session that actually ran
- Paid One approved payment batch to finance
The system, step by step
What the user needs to do, and how the system supports it
Stills from the case study video. The interfaces are illustrated for the video, not screen recordings of the production system; every capability shown is one the system delivers.
-
Illustrated in the case study video Competitions set up in minutes
Schools, rounds, motions and judges are set up in minutes, for the University of Stellenbosch Business School’s programme.
-
Illustrated in the case study video Results in, standings live
Results are captured as each debate ends and the standings update straight away, right through to the year-end final.
-
Illustrated in the case study video Coaches claim from their phone
Coaches claim expenses and stipends in the same web app: pick the session, snap the receipt, submit.
-
Illustrated in the case study video Checked, approved, paid
The programme team checks every claim against the sessions actually run, approves it, and sends one payment batch to finance.
Key decisions
Why it was built this way
The decisions the evidence supports: what needed addressing, what GEMIS chose, why, and what was delivered or observed.
-
- Challenge
- Fixtures, scores and claims were all on paper, and slow for everyone.
- Decision
- One web platform for the debates and the admin behind them, rather than separate tools.
- Rationale
- The competition and the money are linked — claims are for sessions — so one system can verify what two cannot.
- Evidence or effect
- Delivered, as shown in the case study.
-
- Challenge
- Standings lagged because results were compiled after the fact.
- Decision
- Capture results as each debate ends and update the standings straight away.
- Rationale
- Results captured at the event are trusted; results compiled later are questioned.
- Evidence or effect
- Delivered, as shown in the case study.
-
- Challenge
- Coaches’ claims had to be gathered, matched to sessions and paid one by one.
- Decision
- Claims from the phone with the receipt attached, checked against the sessions that ran, paid in one batch.
- Rationale
- Matching a claim to a recorded session makes payment both faster and verifiable.
- Evidence or effect
- Delivered, as shown in the case study.
Validation, delivery and iteration
What the record shows
Delivery and continued use are the validation the repository can evidence. What it cannot, it says.
On record
- Delivered for the University of Stellenbosch Business School (facts.md gives 2014 for the engagement; the case study records the programme at 24 schools and more than 430 learners).
Not documented
- Whether the platform remains in use, participation changes, payment-time improvements and testing records are not in the repository, so none are claimed.
Outcomes and business value
More time for debate, less time on admin
Delivered work, verified results and intended benefits are kept apart. Nothing here is a metric the client has not confirmed.
Delivered
- Competition management with live standings
- Mobile expense and stipend claims for coaches
- Claim verification and a single payment batch to finance
Intended benefits
- More time for debate, less time on admin
- Standings and results trusted because they are captured at the event
- Coaches paid faster, against sessions that verifiably ran
Built on Web platform · mobile capture · SQL
Related work
Two projects that share the pattern
Non-profit — gender-based violence and HIV prevention
Sonke Gender Justice
Monitoring and evaluation across Africa
- Field operations
- Integration
Construction services — waterproofing and roofing
SBS Waterproofing
The system behind more than a decade of growth
- Platforms
Next steps
Running a programme on paper and spreadsheets? Let’s talk about one platform for the activity and the admin behind it.
Tell us what the business needs to do better. We come back within two working days with a short written view and a time to talk — no obligation.