Technical glitches hit RTE admissions on Day One

When parents arrived at BangaloreOne centres on Wednesday, after a wait for one and a half months, to apply for admission of their children in private schools under the RTE quota, they found that the link to apply online was not available.

Parents who reached the BangaloreOne centres and block education offices to submit applications were confused as the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) had announced that the process would begin on March 1.

“Since the process was delayed so much, I decided to apply on Day One itself. I took a day’s leave, but when I went to the Rajajinagar BEO office and the BangaloreOne centre in Malleswaram, I was told that the link was not activated,” the mother of a six-year-old said.

According to K Anand, primary education director of Department of Public Instruction, the link was activated around 4.30 pm only. He said they encountered technical issues as there were a number of visitors to the website at a time.

After the link was activated, 2,127 applications were submitted successfully. Nagasimha Rao, convenor of RTE Task Force, said the problem was reported from across the state and they would protest if it persisted for more than two days. BBMP has opened 34 help centres in the city for the convenience of parents applying for admission of their children in various schools under the Right to Education (RTE) quota.

One such centre was inaugurated by Mayor G Padmavathi in Prakash Nagar ward. The centre is located at the ward office near Gayathridevi Park in Rajajinagar. A number of parents visited the centre on the first day. Due to some technical problems, only a few people could apply online.

Speaking to reporters, the mayor said 4.37 lakh children were enrolled throughout the state under the RTE last year. The centres were set up so that parents need not run from pillar to post to apply for the seats. The civic body has plans to increase the number of centres, she said.