Stop scrambling. Start standing in.
ReliefCher is an open relief-planning platform for Singapore schools, built to replace the daily WhatsApp chaos of coordinating teacher absences and relief coverage.
Every school morning plays out the same way: a teacher texts the WhatsApp group at 6:30 AM — "MC today, can someone cover my classes?" What follows is a 45-minute scramble of messages, spreadsheets, and sticky notes as the relief coordinator tries to figure out who is free, who has already been assigned too many relief periods this week, and which classes are still uncovered by the time the bell rings.
Most schools track relief assignments manually or through fragmented tools that don't talk to each other. Absences are reported in one system, payroll in another, and the actual assignment happens over chat. Classes fall through the cracks. Teachers burn out from uneven workload distribution. Coordinators spend their mornings firefighting instead of supporting students.
ReliefCher gives schools a single, real-time platform to manage the full relief workflow — from the moment a teacher reports sick to the moment every period is covered.
Teachers report absences in under 30 seconds. The system instantly knows who is free based on the school's actual timetable. A smart auto-assign algorithm distributes relief fairly using configurable rules (workload caps, subject-match priority, consecutive-period optimisation). The relief coordinator sees everything on one dashboard and can override any assignment with a click.
No more WhatsApp threads. No more guesswork. No more uncovered classes.
- Timetable import — paste your aSc TimeTables CSV export and the entire teacher, period, class, and subject structure is built automatically. No manual data entry.
- One-click absence reporting — teachers pick their name, select the dates, and submit. Takes ~30 seconds with no account required.
- Smart availability detection — the system cross-references the school timetable (including odd/even week rotations) to show exactly which teachers are free for each period.
- Auto-assign algorithm — configurable rules based on workload fairness ("Hearts" system with weekly reset), subject/role priority ("Stars"), and consecutive-period optimisation so one teacher covers back-to-back periods instead of two teachers splitting them.
- Real-time dashboard — a single screen showing who is absent today, which periods need coverage, and who has been assigned. Updated live.
- Pool teacher matching — reach beyond your school's staff to MOE's wider relief teacher pool (SRE/FAJT/CAJT) with automatic candidate matching and a stepped approval workflow.
- Telegram notifications — relief teachers receive assignments and respond directly via Telegram.
- Google Calendar sync — relief assignments are pushed to teachers' calendars with reminders.
- Summary email reports — daily digests for school leaders showing coverage status and assignment history.
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Frontend | Next.js, React, Tailwind CSS |
| Backend | Next.js API routes, Prisma ORM |
| Database | PostgreSQL |
| Auth | Google SSO (MOE iCON) + custom stateful sessions |
| Workers | Redis + BullMQ (matching, notifications, calendar sync) |
| Notifications (Future) | Telegram (grammy), email (Resend) |
| Deployment | AWS (ECS/EC2) |
We are looking for Singapore schools to pilot ReliefCher. If you are a teacher, relief coordinator, HOD, or school leader and want to try a better way to manage relief coverage, we would love to hear from you.
Or reach out to the DXD team directly — we will walk you through the platform and get your school set up.
This project is maintained by DXD. All rights reserved.