How we approached it
The challenge
Schools across West Africa needed a unified management system that could handle the full operational complexity of a modern school: attendance, grading, fees, payroll-adjacent finance, parent communication, and AI-assisted teaching tools — all from a single multi-tenant platform that different schools could use with data isolation.
The AI exam generation requirement added specific complexity: reliable AI output at cost, across multiple providers, with a Python worker bridge for the heavier computation.
Our approach
We designed EduTrack PRO as a true multi-tenant SaaS with 7 role-based portals (student, parent, teacher, coordinator, finance, marketing, super admin) and 20+ modules behind clean module-level RBAC.
The AI engine was built with a 4-provider cascading failover: Claude → Groq → Gemini → OpenAI. If the primary provider returns an error or hits a rate limit, the request automatically falls through to the next. This keeps AI-dependent features available without manual intervention.
Biometric attendance uses WebAuthn for web-based fingerprint/face verification, with a canteen management integration for meal tracking. The finance module handles fee collection, automated payment reconciliation via Paystack and Hubtel webhooks, and a licensing/billing control plane with Starter/Growth/Premium tiered plans and automated recurring billing.
What we delivered
- ~91,000 lines of production PHP across 360+ files
- 120+ database tables with proper indexing and multi-tenant isolation
- 20+ modules: attendance, grading, fees, timetabling, library, canteen, payroll-adjacent finance, communications, and more
- Unified AI engine with 4-provider cascading failover (Claude → Groq → Gemini → OpenAI)
- AI exam generator with Python worker bridge
- Biometric attendance via WebAuthn (facial/fingerprint)
- 2 installable PWAs (Parent Portal + Teacher Portal)
- Paystack + Hubtel payment integration with webhook reconciliation
- Standalone licensing/billing control plane with tiered plans and automated recurring billing
The result
EduTrack PRO is a production-deployed, multi-tenant SaaS currently being rolled out across school clients. The AI exam generator has reduced exam preparation time significantly. The biometric canteen management has eliminated manual meal tracking. The multi-provider AI failover has maintained near-100% AI feature availability.