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TTS-300

Timetable & Scheduling

Building a school timetable by hand takes days and still produces clashes. TTS-300 uses a constraint-based scheduling algorithm to generate a conflict-free timetable in minutes — respecting teacher availability, room capacity, ZIMSEC period requirements, and specialist facility bookings.

Offline Capable ZIMSEC Period Compliance Conflict Detection Substitute Assignment Printable Output

Automated Timetable Generation

TTS-300's scheduling engine takes structured input about your school and produces an optimised timetable that satisfies all constraints simultaneously.

Periods Per Day Configuration

Configure the school day structure: number of periods, period duration (35, 40, or 45 minutes), break times, and assembly periods. Different structures can be set for primary and secondary sections.

Teacher Availability & Preferences

Each teacher's subject load is entered: which subjects they teach, which classes, and how many periods per week. Mark unavailable slots for external duties, study leave, or part-time teaching arrangements.

Room & Capacity Constraints

Enter each classroom's capacity and type: standard, science laboratory, computer lab, home economics room, art studio. The algorithm will not schedule a class in a room smaller than the class size.

Subject Period Requirements

Enter the required periods per week per subject per class. The algorithm allocates exactly the right number of periods for Mathematics, English, Science, and all other subjects — no subject gets shorted.

Intelligent Conflict Detection

TTS-300 enforces hard constraints that manual timetabling often misses — guaranteeing a timetable that can actually be taught.

Hard Conflict Rules

  • No teacher double-booked in two classes at the same time
  • No room used by two classes simultaneously
  • No class scheduled in two rooms simultaneously
  • Teacher unavailability periods respected absolutely
  • Maximum consecutive periods per teacher per day enforced
  • Minimum free period (prep period) per teacher per day
  • No specialist room (lab, computer lab) over-scheduled

Soft Preference Rules

  • Mathematics and Sciences scheduled in morning periods (peak attention)
  • Physical Education scheduled for outdoor periods only
  • Double periods not split across a break
  • Same subject not scheduled in consecutive periods for the same class
  • Part-time teachers allocated only days they are present
  • Boarding school evening prep periods allocated correctly

Special Scheduling Requirements

Zimbabwean secondary schools have scheduling complexities that generic tools ignore. TTS-300 handles them natively.

Double Periods

Mark subjects that require double periods (Biology practicals, Art, Technical Drawing, Home Economics). The algorithm schedules these as connected two-period blocks, never split.

Practical Labs

Science laboratories and computer labs are marked as shared specialist resources with booking calendars. The algorithm distributes lab access fairly across all classes needing it, preventing conflicts between classes booking the same lab.

PE & Sports Fields

Physical Education is scheduled with awareness of field availability. Schools with a single sports field can prevent multiple PE classes at the same time. Timetable accounts for field sharing between classes.

ZIMSEC Period Requirement Compliance

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education specifies minimum periods per week for core subjects. TTS-300 validates your timetable against these requirements before publishing.

1

Ministry Period Minimums

Primary school standards: Mathematics minimum 5 periods/week, English minimum 5 periods/week, Environmental Science minimum 3 periods/week. Secondary standards vary by subject and are pre-loaded into TTS-300.

2

Validation Before Publishing

Before the timetable is published, TTS-300 runs a compliance check comparing actual allocated periods per subject against Ministry minimums. Any shortfall is flagged in red with the option to manually add periods or auto-adjust.

3

Compliance Report for Inspectors

A one-click compliance report summarises actual periods per subject vs Ministry requirement per class — a document school inspectors frequently request during visits.

Timetable Export & Real-Time Modification

Once a timetable is generated, it becomes a living document — printable, distributable, and adjustable when circumstances change.

Export Formats

  • Per-class timetable (A4 printable, classroom display format)
  • Per-teacher personal timetable (A5 pocket size)
  • Per-room booking schedule
  • Whole-school master timetable grid
  • Department timetable (all teachers in one department)
  • PDF and printable HTML formats
  • Display-mode for school notice boards and Smart Boards

Daily Modifications

  • Substitute teacher assignment for absent teachers
  • Period swap between two teachers for a specific day
  • Emergency timetable for examination weeks
  • Sports day / prize-giving schedule override
  • Public holiday and term-break calendar integration
  • Changes reflected instantly for all staff on local network

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Ready to Deploy Timetable & Scheduling?

Contact our Harare team for a live demonstration of this module.