Till 5.30 pm, the portal received 5,060 registration forms. (Express Photo by Sahil Walia)
STUDENTS STARTED registering and filling forms on Day 1 of the online admission process to Class XI on Wednesday. Till 5.30 pm, the portal received 5,060 registration forms. Parents and students were also spotted at centres set up by the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), the agency handling the online process. The department has set up 20 such help desks at government model schools across the city.
“Computer teachers have been asked to assist the public with queries. Many are facing problems logging in,” said a teacher at one of the help desks. The department has also set up an admissions helpline that is being handled by 14 teachers. Sangeeta Chhabra, who is also an English counsellor, said, “I got over 30 calls today and it was a mix of parents and students. Many of them cannot understand specific terms, so we’re helping them out.”
There was a technical glitch in the system for two hours after admissions began at 10 am. Students had to fill only one registration form for all streams (science, commerce, humanities or vocational) and can opt for 20 government schools and streams of their choice in order of preference. Department officials said 14,000 students qualified against 11,500 seats last year. Of these, at least 20 per cent were from neighbouring states.
“We wanted an 85 per cent quota for Chandigarh students this time but that did not work out due to legal issues. Students of state boards prefer to shift to CBSE in Class XI. Also, once they study at a Chandigarh school, they can avail of the Chandigarh quota during college and university admissions after completing Class XII,” said an official.
The last date for filling forms online is June 18. The last date for submitting hard copy of a registration form and all relevant documents is June 20 at six designated schools. These are GMSSS-20D, GMSSS-37D, GMSSS-38 (West), GMSSS-46, GMSSS-Mauli Jagran and GMSSS-MHC Manimajra.