Doubts, Hour-long Waits, and Server Crash on the First Day of Language Consultation in Alicante

Doubts, IT errors, and up to an hour to cast votes marked the first of six days for the language base selection consultation in educational centres. The process began at nine in the morning, chosen by the earliest families to vote. This massive participation during the first hour of activation caused the system to collapse for about 20 minutes.

Something similar occurred between 2 and 3 PM, a time used by many other parents to vote, also causing system fluidity issues. "The voting should have started later to allow for more staggered participation," admits Toni García, vice president of the AMPA at CEIP Joaquín Sorolla in Alicante, who notes that some parents experienced system errors during the process, and upon re-entering, found their vote had been cast without knowing which option they had chosen.

García reports spending part of the morning guiding other parents through the process. One of the main confusions for families was choosing between the area of influence and the general area, a terminology different from what parents face during the enrolment process.

The Conselleria of Education refers to the FAQ section of the consultation website, specifying that "the area of influence is established following the principle of a single district locality, covering the entire municipality," and that "if the family or work address is within the same locality as the educational centre, it is considered an area of influence; if it is in a neighbouring locality, it is considered a bordering area."

Although most parents used their own electronic devices to participate in the consultation, some utilised the equipment provided by educational centres for this purpose. The use of these resources varied depending on the area of Alicante. For instance, at CEIP Nou Sant Blai in the San Blas neighbourhood, only one family visited the centre on Tuesday morning to vote on one of the two laptops set up in a school classroom.

Centre management confirms that this individual was able to vote without issues, unlike at IES Virgen del Remedio, located in the same-named neighbourhood, where more families attended. About a dozen parents visited the centre to vote, and nearly half were unable to do so due to system errors.

The centre's secretariat reports that most errors were due to invalid usernames or passwords. In these cases, parents were advised to return on subsequent days, as the system allows a maximum of three attempts to participate in the process, after which the user is blocked. It is also explained that one user who successfully completed the process took an hour to do so.