Step 1 — Start Your Free Trial or Activate Your Account
Create Your Account
Go to app.edustream.ng/signup and enter your name, school email address, and a strong password. Edustream does not require a credit card to start your 14-day free trial on the Core or Operations plans — just click Start Free Trial and you will land directly in your admin dashboard.If your school was set up by a Edustream sales representative (for example, as part of an Enterprise onboarding), you will instead receive an activation email. Open that email and click Activate My Account, then set your password to gain access.
Choose Your Starting Plan
On first login, a plan-selection prompt appears. Select the tier that best fits your school today — you can upgrade at any time without losing data. If you are unsure, Core is the safest starting point for schools new to the platform.
Confirm Your Email
Check your inbox for a verification email from noreply@edustream.ng and click the confirmation link. Email confirmation unlocks outbound communication features, including parent broadcasts and report card delivery.
Step 2 — Set Up Your School Profile
Your school profile is the identity layer that appears on report cards, invoices, parent-facing notifications, and (on the Enterprise plan) your public admissions portal. Completing it accurately at the start saves you from correcting printed documents later.Open School Settings
From the main navigation, click Settings → School Profile. You will see a form divided into three sections: Identity, Contact, and Branding.
Enter Your School Identity
Fill in your School Name exactly as it appears on your proprietorial registration documents — this text prints on every report card and official invoice. Add your School Motto, Year Founded, and School Type (Nursery & Primary, Secondary, or Combined).
Upload Your School Logo
Click Upload Logo and select a PNG or SVG file at least 400 × 400 pixels. Edustream automatically resizes the logo for report card headers, login screens, and (on Enterprise) your branded PWA icon. A square or near-square logo works best.
Add Contact Details
Enter your school’s address, phone number, official email, and website URL. These appear on parent-facing documents and in the school directory visible to staff.
Enterprise plan subscribers can configure a custom domain and branded PWA identity under Settings → White-Label. Your dedicated account manager will walk you through the DNS configuration during your onboarding call.
Step 3 — Configure Your Academic Year and Terms
Edustream organises all academic activity — timetables, report cards, attendance, and fees — within a defined academic year and its terms. Setting this up correctly is the most important configuration step, as it affects every other module.Define the Academic Year
Enter the year label (e.g., 2024/2025), the overall start date, and the overall end date. Edustream supports both the Nigerian three-term calendar (First Term, Second Term, Third Term) and custom term structures for schools with different calendars.
Add Your Terms
Click Add Term for each term in the year. For each term, provide:
- Term name (e.g., First Term)
- Start date and end date
- Number of school days (used for attendance percentage calculations on report cards)
- Result release date (the date from which parents can view report cards)
Set the Active Term
Once all terms are saved, click Set as Active next to the current term. The active term determines which grading period is open for teachers entering CA and exam scores, and which billing cycle is used when generating invoices.
You can create multiple academic years in advance. Only one year can be active at a time, but you can view historical terms, past report cards, and prior fee records from any previous year without activating it.
Step 4 — Invite Staff Members and Assign Roles
Edustream uses a role-based access model. Each staff member sees only the modules relevant to their position — a class teacher cannot access payroll, and a finance officer cannot edit academic scores unless you explicitly grant them that access.Navigate to Staff Management
Go to People → Employees → Invite Staff. You can invite staff one at a time or upload a bulk CSV for larger schools.
Enter Staff Details
For each staff member, provide their full name, official email address, phone number, job title, and department. The email address you enter is where their invitation link will be sent.
Assign a Role
Select a role from the dropdown. Edustream ships with five default roles:
You can create custom roles under Settings → Roles & Permissions if the defaults do not match your school’s structure.
| Role | Key Access |
|---|---|
| Super Admin | Full access to all modules and settings |
| Academic Admin | Academics, report cards, timetables, classrooms |
| Finance Officer | Fees, invoices, payments, financial reports |
| Class Teacher | Scores entry, attendance, and communication for assigned class |
| Hostel Manager | Dorm logs, bed allocations, hostel notices (Operations & Enterprise) |
Send the Invitation
Click Send Invite. Each staff member receives an email with a link to set their password and access their personalised Edustream dashboard. Pending invitations are visible in the Employees list with a Pending badge.
Step 5 — Add Students and Their Guardian Contacts
Students are the core of your Edustream subscription. You can add them individually or via bulk import — most schools onboarding an existing student cohort use the CSV import to save time.Open the Student Registrar
Navigate to People → Students → Add Student. For bulk import, click Import CSV and download the Edustream student import template to ensure your spreadsheet columns match the expected format.
Enter Student Details
For each student, fill in:
- Full legal name and preferred name
- Date of birth and gender
- Admission number (or let Edustream auto-generate one based on your configured format)
- Enrolment status — set to Enrolled for current students
- Assigned classroom (links to the classes you created in Step 3)
- Blood group and known medical conditions (optional, but visible to designated staff in emergencies)
Add Guardian and Parent Contacts
On each student’s profile, scroll to the Guardians section and click Add Guardian. Enter the guardian’s full name, relationship to the student, phone number, and email address. The email address is used for report card delivery, fee invoices, and (on Operations/Enterprise) real-time attendance notifications.
A single guardian can be linked to multiple siblings on the platform — search for an existing guardian by phone number before creating a new contact to avoid duplicates.
Step 6 — Configure Your First Fee Templates
Fee templates define the standard charges you levy each term — tuition, development levy, PTA dues, examination fees, and any other line items your school collects. Creating templates now means you can generate accurate invoices for every student with a single action at the start of each billing cycle.Name the Template and Set Scope
Give the template a clear name (e.g., JSS Tuition – First Term 2024/2025). Set the applicable class levels — you can create one template that applies to all classes or separate templates for primary and secondary sections if your fees differ.
Add Fee Line Items
Click Add Fee Item for each charge. Enter the item name, amount, and whether it is mandatory or optional (optional items appear on the invoice but do not trigger an outstanding balance warning until the student opts in).
| Example Line Item | Type |
|---|---|
| Tuition Fee | Mandatory |
| Development Levy | Mandatory |
| PTA Dues | Mandatory |
| Examination Fee | Mandatory |
| Sport Kit | Optional |
| Excursion Fee | Optional |
Set the Due Date
Enter a payment due date for the template. Edustream will flag overdue invoices automatically and, if you are on Operations or Enterprise with Flutterwave/Paystack connected, can send automated payment reminder messages to parent contacts.
Step 7 — Generate Your First Report Card
With your academic year configured, classrooms assigned, and students enrolled, your class teachers can begin entering continuous assessment and examination scores for each subject. Once scores are complete, generating and distributing report cards is a one-click process.Enter Scores
Class teachers navigate to Academics → Score Entry, select their class and subject, and enter CA and exam scores for each student. Edustream calculates the total, grade, and position automatically based on the grading scale you configure under Academics → Grading Settings.
Review Score Completion
As admin, monitor score entry progress at Academics → Score Entry → Completion Overview. This dashboard shows, per class and subject, how many teachers have finalised their scores — useful for chasing outstanding entries before the report release date.
Generate Report Cards
Once all scores are entered, navigate to Academics → Report Cards → Generate. Select the active term and the class(es) you want to generate for, then click Generate Report Cards. Edustream compiles beautiful, branded PDFs for every student in the selected classes.
For a full walkthrough of the grading configuration options — including weighted CA vs. exam ratios, subject groupings, and principal’s comments — see the Report Cards documentation.
Tips for a Successful Rollout
Making the transition to a new school management platform is as much a people challenge as a technical one. The following practices consistently lead to faster adoption and fewer support requests in your first term.Run a Staff Orientation Session
Before the term begins, schedule a 60-minute walkthrough for all teaching and administrative staff. Cover the dashboards they will use daily — score entry for teachers, invoice management for finance staff — and answer questions in a low-stakes environment rather than mid-term.
Import Data Before Go-Live
Complete your student and guardian imports at least one week before the term starts. This gives you buffer time to clean up duplicate guardian records, fix admission numbers, and resolve any CSV formatting errors without rushing.
Pilot With One Class First
If you are onboarding mid-year, activate one class on Edustream and run it in parallel with your existing process for two weeks. Once you are confident in the data and workflow, migrate the remaining classes.
Communicate With Parents Early
Send a broadcast announcement to all guardians (via Communication → Broadcasts) explaining that the school is moving to Edustream and that they will receive report cards and invoices through the platform from this term. Early communication reduces confusion and increases on-time fee payments.
Use Comprehensive Onboarding Training
Every Edustream plan includes comprehensive onboarding training at no extra charge. Email support@edustream.ng to schedule a live training session tailored to your plan and school type.
Bookmark the Help Centre
The Edustream documentation covers every module in depth. Encourage all staff to bookmark docs.edustream.ng and use the search bar when they have questions — most answers are there in under 30 seconds.
Enterprise subscribers have access to priority support and a dedicated account manager. If you encounter a blocking issue during setup, use the priority support channel in your dashboard (the orange Get Help button) to reach a senior support engineer directly.
What’s Next?
Now that your school is set up, explore the module-specific guides to get the most out of Edustream:Plans & Pricing
Review feature tiers and upgrade your plan as your school grows.
Report Cards
Configure grading scales, comment banks, and branded report card templates.
Fee Management
Set up recurring billing, online payment gateways, and financial reporting.
Attendance Terminal
Configure the real-time check-in terminal and parent notification rules (Operations & Enterprise).