‘Fix RTE mapping software’

Nagpur: As admission season for free seats under the 25% Right To Education (RTE) quota nears, a city-based education activist has demanded that the government first fix the problem related to residential address mapping.
The map interface is integrated into the software and helps applicant parents/guardians to mark their home on Google maps, which is then considered for admissions. This is crucial because in RTE admission, distance is a major criteria as the one who lives the closest to schools gets priority.
Education activist Shahid Sharif said, “The software needs a complete overhaul as many people are facing problem while submitting the form. In the application form when the map interface opens, applicant has to place the balloon on their residence after which the actual distance is calculated automatically.”
Sharif had complained to the education department last year as well but says nothing has been done yet. “If the software is faulty then how can it be taken up for admissions? Every year I have parents complaining about this issue, but nothing happens,” said Sharif.
An education department official who did not wish to be identified said that it can’t be a software-related error. “If there is a glitch then thousands of parents should have been affected. But since the number is so low, it is clear that there is a manual error happening from applicants’ side. While placing the balloon it is possible that it does not drop on exactly the same location as intended thus creating a problem,” said the official.
Once the RTE lottery is done, the software allocates seats to students and parents have to complete the admission formalities based on that. Hardly a few schools check the actual place where the applicant is staying as for them it does not matter if ‘A’ takes admission or ‘B’.