Department of Education LMS
Web Development, LMS
2020 – Present
Building a zero-rated learning platform that kept thousands of learners educated when COVID shut the classroom doors.
When COVID-19 forced South African schools to close in 2020, Hoërskool C.R. Swart faced a problem most schools solved with Google Classroom — but their learners couldn't. Many came from households without reliable internet access, and the school's existing WordPress website wasn't equipped to deliver lesson material at scale. Children were falling behind, and every day without a solution meant more lost learning.
We built a fully custom Learning Management System from the ground up — first as a WordPress plugin to get content out fast, then as a standalone platform with React, Node.js, and H3. We also worked with the South African government to get the website zero-rated, meaning learners could access all materials without spending a cent on mobile data. The platform now serves grades 8 through 12 across 20+ subjects, and its success attracted learners from other schools across the region.
A school locked out of the digital classroom
When COVID-19 hit, most South African schools pivoted to Google Classroom or platforms like Siyavula and Vodacom e-School to keep lessons going. C.R. Swart couldn't follow — their learners largely came from communities where buying mobile data was a luxury, not a given. The school was stuck with a basic WordPress site that had no mechanism for delivering structured lesson content. Teachers had no way to upload materials, and learners had no way to access them even if they could.
The digital divide was real and urgent. While fee-paying schools adapted quickly with existing platforms, no-fee schools like C.R. Swart were left behind. Every week without a solution meant hundreds of learners falling further behind their peers across the country — and there was no off-the-shelf product that solved both the content delivery and the data cost problem simultaneously.
From WordPress plugin to a full custom LMS — then zero-rated by government
Speed was critical, so we started with a WordPress plugin that let teachers upload lesson materials to the existing school website. It worked, but the manual overhead was significant — every upload required intervention, and the delay between a teacher preparing content and a learner receiving it was too long. We knew a purpose-built system was needed.
We built a completely custom LMS using React on the frontend and Node.js with H3 on the backend, with files stored on Cloudflare R2 for fast, reliable delivery. The platform gives teachers full autonomy to create, organize, and publish lesson material by grade, subject, and term — no technical knowledge required. Crucially, we partnered with the South African government to get the website zero-rated across mobile networks, removing the last barrier to access. The result: learners can browse grades 8–12, select from 20+ subjects, and download PDFs and resources without spending a single rand on data.
Zero data cost, zero learners left behind
The LMS delivers lesson material to thousands of learners across grades 8–12 with zero data costs, a 96 Lighthouse performance score, and a self-service backend that lets teachers publish content independently — no developer needed.
Zero data costs for learners, 96 Lighthouse performance, and teacher self-service across 5 grades and 20+ subjects.
OpenIdle built us a learning platform that kept our children educated when COVID closed every classroom door. The zero-rating was a game-changer — suddenly every learner had access, not just those who could afford data. Other schools started using our platform too. That says everything.
OpenIdle built us a learning platform that kept our children educated when COVID closed every door. The zero-rating meant every learner had access.