Nagpur: The frequent crashing of the Right to Education (RTE) in the last few days has caused panic among parents who had applied for free school admission of their wards. The Education Department has officially accepted that their server is facing excessive traffic.
The Education Department conducted the online lottery for free school admissions on April 5. Parents have till April 25 to get the documents verified and complete the admission process. But the technical issues with the RTE website forced parents to approach education officials. Finally, on Tuesday, the Education Department issued a public notice confirming the technical snags.
Sharad Gosavi, Director of Education (Primary), said that the portal was facing excessive load. The official requested parents not to panic as this temporary technical glitch won’t result in their ward losing out on the lottery seat. Gosavi said that there is ample time available for parents to complete the document verification process, and then finish the admission formalities.
Shahid Sharif, Chairman of RTE Action Committee, said that the Education Department must extend the deadline to complete the admission process. “Parents need to collect documents and many times officials do not cooperate with them. So, the government must allow more time for parents to submit the necessary documents,” Sharif said.
A parent, who faced issues connecting to the portal, said that the government should make provisions for more servers during this crucial phase. “Considering that lakhs of people across the State are logging on to the site, it is common sense that special arrangements must be made,” said the parent, who did not wish to be identified.
After the online lottery for selection of students is completed, the parents are informed through SMS about it. The allotted school then waits for parents to come physically and submit documents including birth certificate, Aadhaar card, address proof etc to complete the actual admission process.
