NEW DELHI: A newly revamped website introduced by the Education Department to streamline school administration has instead sparked widespread frustration among school principals, who say the platform’s excessive reliance on OTPs is disrupting their daily functioning.
According to several principals, the portal now requires OTP verification for almost every task, from marking attendance and uploading documents to sending official emails and registering information.
What was intended to enhance security and efficiency has, they argue, turned into a logistical challenge. “We are getting around 40 to 50 OTPs every single day. It becomes extremely difficult to keep track of them while managing routine school responsibilities,” said a principal of a government school, requesting anonymity.
He added, “Principals are frustrated. It has been a month since we started using the website, but it has been a real struggle. To log into the website, it asks for an OTP; to upload any document or mark attendance, it asks for an OTP. It is sheer chaos. Principals have endless duties. This is like an additional burden for no reason.”
School heads also said the repeated authentication process not only consumes time but also hampers the smooth flow of administrative work. Many have flagged that urgent tasks get delayed. “It breaks the workflow completely. For even the smallest update, we have to stop and wait for an OTP. This is not practical in a busy school environment,” another principal echoed a similar opinion.
Principals have urged the Education Department to reconsider the system and either limit OTP requirements to sensitive actions or introduce an OTP-free mechanism for routine administrative tasks. They argue that while security is important, it should not come at the cost of efficiency.
“The department should trust verified users like principals and allow smoother access. Right now, the system is creating more hurdles than solutions,” a school head stated.
Officials from the Education Department, including the Director of Education, did not respond to queries.