Terms and Conditions

11. Definitions

1.1 "School" means any educational institution, its owners, administrators, and authorized staff who register an account to use the Service.

1.2 "School Data" means all data, records, and content submitted, uploaded, entered, or generated by a School or its Users through the Service, including but not limited to student records, attendance, grades, exam results, fee records, staff records, timetables, library records, transport records, hostel records, and communications.

1.3 "Personal Data" has the meaning given in Section 2 of the accompanying Privacy Policy.

1.4 "Subscription" means the paid or trial access granted to a School to use the Service, as set out in a separate quotation, order form, or invoice.

1.5 "Platform" or "Service" means the eSchool web application, admin dashboard, Student App, Parent App, Teacher App, APIs, and any associated infrastructure, software, and documentation provided by DreamTech.

22. About eSchool and Nature of the Service

2.1 eSchool is a cloud-based, multi-tenant Software-as-a-Service ("SaaS") School Management System developed, owned, and operated by Dream Technologies PLC. The Service provides tools for student management, admissions, attendance, timetabling, academics and examinations, fee and payment processing, staff and payroll management, communication, library management, transport management, hostel management, and reporting.

2.2 DreamTech is solely a technology and software service provider. DreamTech is not:

• a school, educational institution, examining body, or accreditation authority;
• a bank, financial institution, payment service provider, or money remittance business;
• an employer, agent, or representative of any School or its staff;
• a party to any admission, enrollment, employment, disciplinary, or financial relationship between a School and its students, parents, or staff.

2.3 DreamTech does not create, review, verify, approve, endorse, or take responsibility for the accuracy, legality, or completeness of any School Data. Each School is solely responsible for the content and accuracy of all information it or its Users enter into the Platform.

33. Eligibility and Account Registration

3.1 To register a School account, the registering individual must have the legal authority to bind the School and must provide accurate, current, and complete information.

3.2 Sub-accounts (Admin, Teacher, Receptionist, Accountant, Librarian, Student, Parent, and other role-based accounts) are created and managed by the School's Super Admin/Admin. The School is solely responsible for creating, verifying, deactivating, and managing all sub-accounts, including determining who is authorized to access student and staff Personal Data.

3.3 Each role (Super Admin, Admin, Teacher, Receptionist, Accountant, Student, Parent, Librarian, or any other role made available on the Platform) is granted access strictly according to permissions configured by the School. DreamTech is not responsible for a School's misconfiguration of role-based permissions or for a School granting excessive access to any User.

3.4 Users must be of legal capacity to enter into agreements under Ethiopian law, or, in the case of student and minor accounts, must be enrolled and managed under the authority of a School and/or parent or legal guardian.

44. School Responsibility and Obligations

4.1 Each School using the Service is an independent legal entity solely and exclusively responsible for:

• admissions decisions, enrollment, and eligibility determinations;
• accuracy and completeness of student, staff, and parent records;
• grading, examination results, promotion, and academic decisions;
• disciplinary actions, suspensions, and expulsions;
• setting, communicating, and collecting fees, and issuing refunds;
• scholarship and financial aid decisions;
• issuance of certificates, transcripts, and report cards;
• compliance with all applicable Ethiopian laws and regulations governing education, labor, taxation, data protection, and consumer protection;
• obtaining any consents required from parents, guardians, or staff for the processing of Personal Data on the Platform;
• the lawful conduct of its administrators, teachers, and staff using the Platform.

4.2 DreamTech does not review, verify, audit, or guarantee the accuracy of School Data and assumes no liability for decisions made by a School using information generated or stored on the Platform.

4.3 Schools must promptly notify DreamTech of any unauthorized access, data breach, or misuse of the Platform of which they become aware.

55. Parent, Student, and Staff Responsibility

5.1 Parents, guardians, students, and staff acknowledge and agree that:

• all academic, disciplinary, attendance, and financial information displayed through the Platform originates from, and is controlled by, the School;
• any dispute regarding grades, admissions, fees, attendance, discipline, employment, or any other school-related matter must be raised and resolved directly with the relevant School and not with DreamTech;
• DreamTech has no authority to alter academic records, fee balances, or disciplinary records except as instructed by the School through the Platform's normal functionality.

5.2 DreamTech is not a party to, and bears no liability for, any dispute between a School and its parents, students, or staff.

66. Payment Services

6.1 The Platform integrates with third-party payment gateways and providers, which may include Telebirr, CBE Birr, Bank of Abyssinia, Zemen Bank, Awash Birr, Stripe, PayPal, and other providers made available from time to time ("Payment Providers").

6.2 Unless a separate written agreement between DreamTech and a School states otherwise:

• payments collected through the Platform are transferred to the School's designated settlement account via the relevant Payment Provider;
• DreamTech does not hold, custody, or control student or parent funds and does not act as an escrow agent, payment aggregator, or financial intermediary;
• DreamTech is not responsible for delayed, failed, duplicated, or reversed transactions caused by a Payment Provider, bank, telecommunications network, or the payer's own error;
• refund decisions and processing are the sole responsibility of the relevant School; DreamTech has no obligation to issue or guarantee refunds;
• transaction fees charged by Payment Providers are separate from, and in addition to, any Subscription fees payable to DreamTech, unless otherwise agreed in writing.

6.3 Schools and Users are responsible for verifying the accuracy of all payment instructions and reconciling their own financial records independently of the Platform.

6.4 DreamTech does not store full banking credentials, card numbers, or Payment Provider passwords; such information is handled exclusively by the relevant Payment Provider's secure systems.

77. Subscription, Fees, and Payment for the Service

7.1 Access to the Service is subject to payment of Subscription fees as set out in the applicable order form, invoice, or quotation agreed between DreamTech and the School. No pricing, discount, or fee waiver is implied by these Terms unless expressly confirmed in writing by DreamTech.

7.2 Subscription fees are payable in advance unless otherwise agreed in writing. Late or non-payment may result in suspension or limitation of access to the Service in accordance with Section 13.

7.3 All fees are exclusive of applicable taxes, duties, and levies unless expressly stated otherwise. The School is responsible for any taxes arising from its use of the Service, other than taxes on DreamTech's net income.

7.4 Except as otherwise agreed in writing or required by applicable law, fees paid are non-refundable.

88. Platform Availability and Support

8.1 DreamTech will use commercially reasonable efforts to maintain availability of the Service but does not guarantee uninterrupted, error-free, or continuous operation.

8.2 The Service may be temporarily unavailable due to scheduled or emergency maintenance, software upgrades, internet or telecommunications failures, cloud infrastructure outages, Payment Provider outages, cyberattacks or security incidents, force majeure events, or other circumstances beyond DreamTech's reasonable control.

8.3 Any specific uptime commitments, response times, or support service levels apply only if set out in a separate written Service Level Agreement ("SLA") signed by DreamTech. In the absence of a signed SLA, no uptime or support-response guarantee is made.

8.4 DreamTech provides onboarding, configuration assistance, and training as described on the Platform or agreed separately; the scope of ongoing support is defined by the applicable Subscription plan.

99. User Accounts and Security

9.1 Users are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their login credentials, securing their devices, and promptly notifying their School's administrator and DreamTech of any suspected unauthorized access.

9.2 Users are responsible for all activities that occur under their account credentials, except where such activity results from DreamTech's proven gross negligence or willful misconduct.

9.3 Schools must promptly deactivate accounts of staff, teachers, or students who are no longer authorized to access the Platform (e.g., upon resignation, termination, transfer, or graduation).

1010. Acceptable Use Policy

10.1 Users shall not, and shall not permit or assist any third party to:

• attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Platform, other Schools' data, or DreamTech's systems;
• reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or attempt to derive source code from the Platform;
• scrape, harvest, or extract data from the Platform through automated means without written authorization;
• upload, transmit, or introduce viruses, malware, or other harmful code;
• impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent affiliation with any person or entity;
• interfere with, disrupt, or place undue burden on the Platform's infrastructure or other Schools' use of the Service;
• use the Platform to transmit unlawful, defamatory, harassing, obscene, or infringing content;
• use bots, scripts, or automated tools to access the Platform without DreamTech's prior written consent;
• violate any applicable Ethiopian law or regulation while using the Service.

10.2 DreamTech reserves the right to investigate suspected violations and to suspend or terminate access immediately, without liability, upon any breach of this Section.

1111. Data Ownership and Intellectual Property

11.1 School Data. As between DreamTech and the School, the School retains ownership of all School Data it inputs into the Platform. Parents and students retain ownership of the Personal Data they submit, subject to the School's role in controlling that data as described in the Privacy Policy.

11.2 DreamTech IP. DreamTech and its licensors exclusively own all right, title, and interest in and to the Platform, including all software, source code, object code, APIs, algorithms, user interfaces, designs, workflows, documentation, trademarks (including "eSchool" and "eSchool.et"), logos, and all intellectual property rights therein. No provision of these Terms transfers any ownership interest in the Platform to any School or User.

11.3 Feedback. If a School or User provides suggestions, feature requests, or feedback regarding the Service, DreamTech may use such feedback without restriction or obligation to compensate the provider.

11.4 Aggregated and Anonymized Data. DreamTech may create, use, and disclose aggregated and/or anonymized data derived from School Data (which does not identify any School, student, parent, or staff member) for purposes including product improvement, analytics, research, and benchmarking, provided such data cannot reasonably be used to re-identify any individual or School.

1212. License Grant

12.1 Subject to these Terms and continued payment of applicable fees, DreamTech grants each School a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Platform solely for the School's own internal educational administration purposes during the term of its active Subscription.

12.2 Schools and Users shall not: copy, resell, sublicense, rent, lease, lend, or otherwise commercially exploit the Platform; modify or create derivative works based on the Platform; remove or alter any proprietary notices; or use the Platform to build a competing product or service.

12.3 Any rights not expressly granted in these Terms are reserved by DreamTech.

1313. Suspension and Termination

13.1 DreamTech may suspend or restrict a School's or User's access to the Service, in whole or in part, immediately and without prior notice, where DreamTech reasonably believes:

• there is fraud, abuse, or illegal activity;
• there is non-payment of Subscription fees;
• there is a security risk to the Platform, other Schools, or Users;
• there is a material breach of these Terms;
• suspension is required to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation or order.

13.2 Where practicable, DreamTech will provide notice of suspension and an opportunity to remedy the issue, except in emergency situations where immediate suspension is necessary to protect the Platform or other Users.

13.3 A School may terminate its Subscription by providing written notice in accordance with its order form or, absent such terms, thirty (30) days' written notice to DreamTech.

13.4 Upon termination or expiry of a Subscription: (a) the School's access to the Service will cease; (b) the School may request export of its School Data within thirty (30) days of termination, in a reasonably available format; and (c) after the applicable retention period described in the Privacy Policy, DreamTech may permanently delete or anonymize the School Data, unless retention is required by applicable law.

13.5 Sections 6, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, and any other provision which by its nature should survive, shall survive termination of these Terms.

1414. Third-Party Services

14.1 The Platform integrates with third-party providers, including Payment Providers, SMS gateways, email delivery services, cloud hosting infrastructure, and mobile platform providers (including Google and Apple app stores).

14.2 DreamTech is not responsible for the acts, omissions, outages, security incidents, or policy changes of any third-party provider. Use of such third-party services may be subject to the third party's own terms and privacy policies.

1515. Disclaimers

15.1 THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT SUCH WARRANTIES CANNOT BE EXCLUDED UNDER APPLICABLE ETHIOPIAN LAW.

15.2 DreamTech does not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free, or that any defects will be corrected, or that the Service is free of viruses or other harmful components.

15.3 DreamTech makes no warranty regarding the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of any School Data, academic outcome, or financial calculation generated by the Platform, as these depend on data entered by Schools and Users.

1616. Limitation of Liability

16.1 TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL DREAMTECH, ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR:

• any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages;
• loss of profits, revenue, goodwill, data, or business opportunity;
• School administrative, academic, disciplinary, admissions, or financial decisions;
• grading disputes, fee disputes, scholarship decisions, or certificate issuance;
• data entered incorrectly, incompletely, or fraudulently by any School or User;
• failures, delays, or losses caused by Payment Providers, banks, telecommunications networks, or internet service providers;
• events of force majeure as described in Section 20.

16.2 TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, DREAMTECH'S TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, OR OTHERWISE, SHALL NOT EXCEED THE TOTAL SUBSCRIPTION FEES ACTUALLY PAID BY THE AFFECTED SCHOOL TO DREAMTECH FOR THE SERVICE DURING THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM.

16.3 The limitations in this Section 16 do not apply to liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable Ethiopian law, including liability for death or personal injury caused by DreamTech's negligence, or liability arising from DreamTech's fraud or willful misconduct.

16.4 The parties acknowledge that the fees charged for the Service reflect the allocation of risk set out in this Section, and that DreamTech would not provide the Service on these terms without such limitations.

1717. Indemnification

17.1 Each School agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless DreamTech, its directors, officers, employees, contractors, and partners from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or relating to:

• the School's operation, management, or administration of its institution;
• academic, admissions, disciplinary, or employment decisions made by the School;
• disputes between the School and its students, parents, or staff;
• fee collection, refunds, or financial disputes;
• the School's or its Users' misuse of the Platform;
• the School's or its Users' violation of applicable law or these Terms;
• inaccurate, unlawful, or unauthorized data entered by the School or its Users.

17.2 DreamTech reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by a School, in which case the School agrees to cooperate with DreamTech's defense of such claim.

1818. Confidentiality

18.1 Each party agrees to protect the other party's confidential information using at least the same degree of care it uses to protect its own confidential information of similar nature, and not to disclose such information to third parties except as necessary to perform its obligations under these Terms, as required by law, or with the disclosing party's consent.

18.2 This Section does not apply to information that is or becomes publicly available through no fault of the receiving party, was already known to the receiving party without confidentiality obligation, or is independently developed without use of the confidential information.

1919. Amendments to These Terms

19.1 DreamTech may update or modify these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in the Service, legal requirements, or business practices. Material changes will be notified via the Platform, email, or other reasonable means at least fifteen (15) days before taking effect, where practicable.

19.2 Continued access to or use of the Service after the effective date of any updated Terms constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. If a School or User does not agree to the revised Terms, it must discontinue use of the Service and may terminate its Subscription in accordance with Section 13.

2020. Force Majeure

DreamTech shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performance under these Terms resulting from causes beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of God, natural disasters, war, civil unrest, government action, internet or power outages, telecommunications failures, epidemics or pandemics, labor disputes, or failures of third-party service providers.

2121. Assignment

DreamTech may assign or transfer these Terms, in whole or in part, in connection with a merger, acquisition, corporate reorganization, or sale of all or substantially all of its assets, without the consent of Schools or Users. Schools and Users may not assign or transfer their rights or obligations under these Terms without DreamTech's prior written consent.

2222. Severability and Waiver

If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect. No waiver of any provision of these Terms shall be effective unless in writing and signed by the waiving party, and no failure or delay in exercising any right shall operate as a waiver.

2323. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, any applicable order form, invoice, or Service Level Agreement, constitute the entire agreement between DreamTech and the School/User with respect to the Service, and supersede all prior or contemporaneous understandings, agreements, or representations, whether written or oral.

2424. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

24.1 These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.

24.2 The parties shall first attempt to resolve any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service through good-faith negotiation.

24.3 If a dispute cannot be resolved through negotiation within thirty (30) days, the dispute shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, unless the parties have separately agreed in writing to arbitration or another dispute resolution mechanism.

2525. Notices

Any formal notice required under these Terms shall be delivered in writing to the addresses below, or such other address as either party may designate in writing:

Dream Technologies PLC (eSchool.et) Around Abuna Petros, Sebera Babur, Abat Commercial, 6th Floor, Room 608 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Email: info@eschool.et Phone: +251 966 778 811

2626. Contact

For questions regarding these Terms, please contact DreamTech PLC through the official support channels published on the eSchool platform (eschool.et) or via the contact details in Section 25.

By using the eSchool platform, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to these Terms and Conditions in full.