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Beaven Dhliwayo Features Writer
Grade Seven results are out and it is that time of the year when parents intending to enrol their kids at boarding schools have to grapple with e-MAP, an online application to secure Form 1 places.

First they have to deal with the platform in the sense that the application, which is vital for children to enrol for secondary education is plagued with errors, which is strange for something that should not have glitches.

The e-MAP platform was first introduced in December 2016 by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MOPSE) to simplify and/or make convenient the process of applying and securing a Form One place.

This was to be achieved by programming an application that would be available online, minimising distances which parents had to travel thus saving money that would have been spent on transport.

According to the education ministry, e-MAP also sought to reduce corruption by minimising direct interaction between parents or guardians and those responsible for enrolment. The online application for 2020 Form One intakes opened on November 4 and closes on December 31, 2019.

Parents have to battle it out to secure places for their kids at 262 boarding schools countryside with a total enrolment capacity of 24 320 students within a month.

While e-Map is supposed to be a solution, it is fast turning out to be a nightmare for many parents. It is not only parents who are facing challenges. Teachers and schools have not been spared.
This is usual for most platforms which experience huge traffic once a year.

Queries obviously arise because too many people will be trying to access the site at the same time which automatically compromises the site’s performance.

Parents have to devise means of accessing the application portal with many having to wake up in the middle of the night just to access the platform.

Honestly speaking, a lot of parents have not had an easy time using the platform.
A snap survey of parents and guardians looking for Form One places shows that most of them prefer the old system where pupils had to apply and write entrance tests.

Memory Ndumeya of Warren Park 1, Harare, said she had applied to three secondary schools but she has not received any confirmation to see if her applications were received by the three schools.

“I did apply to Ngezi High, Marondera High and Queen Elizabeth Girls High, but none of the schools have confirmed receipt of my applications,” she said.

“Now I am stuck and I don’t know what exactly to do considering that data tariffs are expensive these days and it is straining to keep buying data.”

However, the ministry of education’s head of communication, Patrick Zumbo told the The Herald that the site was up and running and other schools’ heads had already started accepting pupils. Challenges from last year, he said, were rectified and the platform is now being hosted by one of the country’s largest telecommunication company — TelOne.

Last year, schools and parents failed to access the online application platform.
Neither were the schools accepting the alternative manual method as they religiously waited for a directive from the ministry but sadly, nothing came up from the ministry itself.

Most parents for fear that their children will not secure Form One places used their hard earned cash to visit several schools they would have applied only to be informed that the same schools were facing challenges in processing applications. In addition, a number of parents have been duped by online scammers who send fake sms messages that they would have secured places. Fraudsters ask them to pay into a bank account. They lose money and fail to secure places on time.

This should not be repeated year in, year out. Parents need assurances because many were inconvenienced while uncertainty and anxiety crept into many candidates who could not secure Form One places because of a dysfunctional technology.

Zumbo said: “Parents should give schools a window period to process the applications. Challenges can arise such as that parents can secure a school which is not of their choice.

“The ministry does not guarantee an offer of a place for a particular school. However, it is now possible for parents to decline an offer and reapply to a school of their own choice, but the selection remains the sole responsibility of the school authorities.”
Zumbo said parents should not worry about mobile data, which has become expensive in recent weeks, saying the ministry has points in every district where parents can apply for Form One places for their children.

However, a survey by The Herald showed that parents had no knowledge of such points.
Considering the above glitches, it is prudent for policy makers to develop efficient national Information Communication Technology policies buttressed by strong monitoring and evaluation strategies to ensure smooth running of platforms like eMap.

There should be online platforms to buttress e-MAP such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter among others where parents will present their queries and get answered promptly.