> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bizaxl.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Guardian Management
> How to create and maintain parent and guardian contact records - the people who receive fee notifications, welfare communications, and emergency alerts.
A guardian record stores contact information for a student's parent, guardian, or emergency contact. The system uses these records to send fee payment request emails automatically. If a guardian's email address is wrong or missing, those emails will not reach the family.
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## Who Does This
| Task | Who Does It |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------------------ |
| Creating guardian records | Admissions Officer |
| Linking guardians to students | Admissions Officer |
| Updating guardian contact details | Admissions Officer / Registrar |
***
## How Guardians Work in the System
A Guardian is a separate record that can be linked to one or more students. This design handles families with multiple children at the same institution - you create one Guardian record for a parent and link it to all their children's student records.
When a fee invoice is submitted with "Send Payment Request" enabled, the system emails:
* The student (using their email address on the student record)
* All linked guardians (using the email address on each Guardian record)
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## How to Create a Guardian Record
1. Go to **Education workspace → Student Management card → Guardian**
2. Click **New**
3. Fill in the guardian's details (see Field Guide below)
4. Click **Save**
Then link the guardian to the student:
1. Open the student's record (search by name in the global search bar)
2. Go to the **Guardians tab**
3. Click **Add Row**
4. In the Guardian column, search for and select the guardian you just created
5. Set the Relation (Father, Mother, Sibling, etc.)
6. Click **Save** on the student record
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## Field Guide
| Field | Required | Purpose |
| ----------------- | -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Full Name** | Yes | Guardian's full name |
| **Email Address** | Strongly recommended | Used for fee payment request emails and all automated notifications to guardians |
| **Mobile Number** | No | For phone-based welfare or emergency communications |
| **Work Number** | No | Optional secondary contact number |
| **Occupation** | No | For institutional records |
| **Education** | No | Highest qualification - optional for institutional demographics |
| **Address** | No | Guardian's address if different from student's |
| **Designation** | No | Job title - optional |
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## Linking a Guardian to Multiple Students
If a parent has two or more children at the institution, do not create separate guardian records for each child. Create one Guardian record and link it to each student:
1. Create the Guardian record once
2. Open the first child's Student record → Guardians tab → Add the guardian
3. Open the second child's Student record → Guardians tab → Add the same guardian
4. Repeat for additional children
When fee invoices are raised for any of those students, the same parent email receives the notification for each.
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## Updating Guardian Contact Details
If a guardian changes their email address or phone number:
1. Go to **Education workspace → Student Management card → Guardian**
2. Search for the guardian by name
3. Open their record and click **Edit**
4. Update the email or phone
5. Click **Save**
The change applies immediately. All future notifications will go to the new address.
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## Best Practices
**Add guardian email addresses before the first fee run.** Fee payment request emails are sent the moment a Programme Enrolment is submitted. If the guardian email is missing at that point, the email is skipped and cannot be re-sent automatically.
**Create the Guardian record first, then link it to the student.** You can create both in any order, but it is faster to create the guardian, then open the student record and link them.
**Check for existing guardians before creating new ones.** If a sibling is already enrolled, the parent Guardian record already exists. Search before creating to avoid duplicates.
**Verify email addresses at the start of each academic year.** Run the Student and Guardian Contact Details report (Education workspace → Other Reports card) and check that every guardian has a valid email address before the first billing run.
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## Troubleshooting
**Guardian is not receiving fee payment emails:** Check the Guardian record for a valid email address. Then check the student record to confirm the guardian is listed in the Guardians tab. Also check the Email Queue in system settings for any failed email records.
**Cannot find the Guardian record to link it:** The Guardian record must be created before you can link it. If the search returns no results, the record does not exist yet - create it first.
**Guardian needs to be removed from a student:** Open the student record → Guardians tab → select the row and click the delete icon on that row → Save. This removes the link but does not delete the Guardian record itself.
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## Related Pages
* [Student Records](/education/student-management/student-records) - the student profile that guardians are linked to
* [Notifications & Alerts](/education/notifications-alerts) - how the fee payment request email works
* [Fees & Finance](/education/fees-finance/introduction) - the fee module that triggers guardian notifications