BULLIES and thieves who normally prey on students for their lunch money will have a formidable task with the launch of a student identification card geared towards creating a cashless environment in schools.

The student card was launched by the Student Card Limited (SCL) in partnership with a number of corporate sponsors at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in Kingston Tuesday, and is aimed at making school-related transactions easier for parents and safer for children.

Instead of taking cash to school, students with the card can purchase lunch and other products while parents are able to use the cards to pay school fees, book rental and undertake other school-related transactions. The card will feature the student’s name and photo and comes with a personalised password.

Co-founding director of SCL, Khary Robinson, said the card was conceptualised four years ago following the ‘shoot-up’ of a bus carrying students on Maxfield Avenue in Kingston.

“It was that incident and its aftermath that led to an outcry in our society that something needs to change. Our children were at risk and we needed to change that,” said Robinson. “How does a child focus on their studies and the innocence of their youth if they have to wonder if they will be robbed of their lunch money each day? That was the reality of Jamaica, that still is the reality of Jamaica, the reality that we hope to change.”

The student card has been introduced in a number of primary, preparatory and high schools in the Corporate Area since 2007, and it is hoped that others will join in the coming months.

Principal of Ardenne High School, Esther Tyson, said while the initial process involved with her school going “cashless” in 2007 was tedious, the school has been reaping tremendous benefits.

“Today we are averaging approximately $9,000 for transactions per day coming from a low of $1000 per day in the initial weeks after introducing this system. We intend to go to a volume of 20-fold and to make sure that the majority, if not all, of our students are able to conduct cashless transactions,” she said. “We want our children to walk safely and freely on the roads, knowing that they are not targeted by thieves.”

She said the card will allow parents to exercise greater control over the spending habits of their children and will eliminate some of the challenges school administrators face. The principal was particularly pleased that four per cent of all Digicel talk time purchased with the student card would go towards the Parent Teachers Association of participating schools.

Meanwhile, general manager of Jamaica National Money Services Ltd, Leesa Kow said parents who reside oversees can top up their children’s card from JN Money Transfer locations in the Diaspora.

“We believe that this Money Transfer product will assist many Jamaican nationals living abroad, especially those who chose to live overseas to work and educate their children here in Jamaica,” she said.

Parents of student cardholders will get one for themselves and one for their child, thereby enabling them to set their child’s daily budget and view daily purchases. The card is only acceptable for the school the child attends, although there are future plans to make it usable at restaurants, book stores, libraries and other retail establishments that sell school-related products.