eMAP, the online enrolment system for Form 1 boarding school places which was launched by the Ministry of Education earlier this month successfully allocated places to over 63% of applicants seeking places for the 2017 school year.
The figure was reportedly shared by the Minister of Education, Lazarus in a recent address to Parliament. Dokora also pointed out that 3,000 places were still vacant, something which was attributed to some of the challenges that some parents and guardians faced in either accessing the system or completing the registration process.
From the day it went live, there have been complaints submitted by frustrated users.
The eMAP system went offline temporarily a day after it was announced to the public in what appeared to be a case of a server collapse caused by the strain of traffic.
Then there was the initial panic created by the initial 3-day window that has been suggested for the application process (this deadline was later postponed indefinitely – it’s still online and accepting applications), the complications with late confirmations of applications, UX (user experience) issues like an inability to change school choices, password issues, a failure to accommodate applications for kids schooled outside the country and complications with follow-up applications for unsuccessful attempts.
You can read some of the complaints registered in the comments section of this crowd-sourcing FAQ article here.
It’s clear that there have been a lot of concerns raised about eMAP (including our own) and some have been justified – those 3,000 vacant places and continued enquiries are enough proof that more should be done.
However, in spite of all this, it has worked and it’s fair to say that Ministry of Education and Dokora scored a major victory with the successful applications processed with the system.
It remains to be seen whether action will be taken to improve it and provide a better solution of an already functional system and to accommodate some of the concerns brought forward by observers.
- Techzim