Plain language. Legally meaningful.

1. About these terms

These Terms of Use govern your school's use of HSMS — the Hybrid School Management Suite — provided by ApexSphere Holdings (Pvt) Ltd ('we', 'us', 'our'). By signing up for HSMS or using the service in any role (administrator, teacher, parent or student), the school and the user agree to these terms.

These terms apply alongside our Privacy Notice and any specific commercial agreement signed between your school and ApexSphere Holdings.

2. What HSMS is

HSMS is an online school management system delivered as a service. It includes apps for administrators, teachers, parents and students, and a backend system that stores and processes school information.

We aim to keep HSMS available and improving. From time to time we may add features, change features, or retire features that are no longer used. We will give reasonable notice for any change that materially affects how schools use HSMS.

3. Your account

Each user has their own login. Users must keep their login details private and not share them. The school is responsible for managing who has access to its account and removing users who leave.

If you suspect that a login has been compromised, contact us immediately so we can help secure the account.

4. Schools and student data

When a school signs up to HSMS, the school owns the information held in its account — including student records, fee data, marks and reports. We process that information on behalf of the school. The school decides who within the school can see what.

We will not use a school's data to train AI models, sell to third parties, or share with anyone outside the school's own users, except where we are legally required to do so or where it is necessary to provide the service (for example, sending a message you asked us to send).

5. Acceptable use

You agree to use HSMS only for lawful school-management purposes. You agree not to attempt to access other schools' data, disrupt the service, reverse-engineer the apps, or use HSMS to send harmful, abusive or illegal content.

We may suspend or terminate access if a user or a school breaches these terms in a serious or repeated way. We will normally try to resolve the issue with you first.

6. Subscriptions, payment and renewal

Schools subscribe to HSMS on a tier that matches their enrolment. Subscription fees, currency and payment method are agreed in writing with each school.

If a subscription lapses, you will receive advance notice. After expiry, login is paused but your data is preserved for 90 days while the subscription is renewed. You can request a full export of your data at any time, including during this period.

7. Our intellectual property

HSMS, the HSMS name and logos, the apps, the website and the underlying software are owned by ApexSphere Holdings. Nothing in these terms transfers ownership of any of that to a school or a user.

Your school keeps full ownership of its own information — the data you put into HSMS is yours.

8. Service availability and our limits

We work hard to keep HSMS available, fast and secure. However, the service is provided on an 'as is' basis. We do not promise the service will be uninterrupted or error-free. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for indirect, incidental or consequential losses.

Where we are liable, our total liability to a school in any twelve-month period is limited to the subscription fees paid by that school in the same period.

9. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Zimbabwe. Any dispute that we cannot resolve directly will be handled by the courts of Zimbabwe.

10. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. If a change is significant, we will notify schools by email and post a notice in the app. Continued use of HSMS after the change means you accept the updated terms.

11. Contact us

Questions about these terms? Email info@hsms.co.zw and we will respond within one working day.