Chandigarh: Centralised online entry-level admissions likely this session
As per UT education department officials, the portal will be similar to the portal used for Class 11 admissions. It will be run on the same .nic portal
With the success of centralised admissions for Class 11 in government schools and EWS seats for all schools of the city, the UT education department is likely to conduct centralised online admissions at entry-level for government schools as well.
As per UT education department officials, the portal will be similar to the portal used for Class 11 admissions. It will be run on the same .nic portal. A meeting regarding this is set up for this week and the proposal is likely to receive the go ahead from the higher authorities after this.
Speaking about this, UT director school education Harsuhinderpal Singh Brar said, “We have been able to manage well with the Class 11 admissions and EWS admissions. The new portal will reduce running around from school to school for parents. They will be able to fill the form online with their top three preferences. It will bring transparency to the system. Also, sometimes we receive complaints that schools aren’t accepting the forms of some parents, the move will resolve this issue.”
Help desks will be set up at all schools with the entry level classes to help parents who don’t have computers or can’t use them to fill up these forms. Officials said that rather than going to cyber cafes, those without computers can directly go to these help desks and get the form filled under the guidance of the school staff and this will be provided free of cost to them.
No centralised system for private schools
The system however will not cover private schools which conduct the admission process on their own even as the rules and deadlines are set by the UT education department. Because of the number of entries received, draw of lots has to be conducted in the private schools however not many parents feel this process is fair.
Chandigarh Parents Association president Nitin Goyal said, “Chances of schools’ interference in the admission process remain as draw of lots is conducted by them. Schools hold interviews with parents where they are still asked to donate money or to arrange deals like this for their kids to be favoured. A centralised admission process also involving private schools can put an end to such practices.”
The education department officials denied receiving such complaints. Director Brar said, “If a private school makes any unreasonable demand during the admission, the parents must inform the officials of the UT education department. The department will not shy away from taking action against the school in such cases.” In recent times there haven’t been any such cases where action was taken.
Meanwhile, the department had derecognised St Kabir Public School, Sector 26, and is mulling action against one private minority school and eight private minority schools for not participating in the centralised EWS admissions for 2023-24. This year’s EWS admission process is also likely to be announced soon.
After the common admissions’ schedule is announced, all schools have to display information related to admissions by December 6. Issue and receipt of admission forms will be done between December 7 and December 20. Display of selected candidates and waiting list will be done on February 2.
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Government school results next session will also be sent on Whatsapp
In a further push towards digitalisation, the UT education department will now start sending results of government school students on Whatsapp. Speaking about this, Brar said that the department has students’ details in the government schools’ data inventory and the move is being done to keep parents more directly involved with their children’s academic performance. For those parents who don’t use Whatsapp on their phones, the physical report card of students will still be given during the parent teacher meets organised by the school.