Mumbai: The Maharashtra government is set to announce a revised timetable for First-Year Junior College (FYJC) admissions today following a major technical glitch that disrupted the launch of the online registration process on 21 May.

On the first day of registration, the education department’s portal — designed to support the newly expanded centralised admission process — suffered a technical failure and had to be temporarily taken offline.

The system, which now facilitates FYJC admissions across the entire state, seemed to be overwhelmed shortly after going live. Visitors to the site were met with a message stating, “The site is under maintenance and will be back online in a short while.”

The unexpected disruption frustrated many students and parents eager to complete early registrations. Users reported being unable to access the site or experiencing long delays, raising concerns about the preparedness of the digital infrastructure.

“We kept checking the website throughout the day, hoping it would start working, but there was no update. What added to our anxiety was the complete lack of communication from the department—no explanation, no clarity on the way forward,” said one frustrated parent, expressing concern over the uncertainty and poor coordination.

Experts believe the glitch was caused by a significant spike in traffic, following the statewide expansion of the Centralised Admission Process (CAP). “The government should have anticipated a surge in users once the CAP was expanded across the state. It’s baffling that adequate preparations weren’t made in advance to handle the increased traffic,” remarked an education expert, criticising the lack of foresight in the system’s rollout.

Previously limited to five regions — Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, and Amravati — the CAP now covers all junior colleges in Maharashtra, drastically increasing the number of users attempting to access the portal simultaneously.

The FYJC admission process was originally planned to run from 21 May to 28 May. Prior to the official launch, the education department had also opened the registration portal for a two-day trial on Monday, allowing students to familiarise themselves with the system and its procedures.

The education department has not yet disclosed when the portal will be operational again but confirmed that a new admission schedule will be issued later today to accommodate the delay.