Bernburg. For the new school year, parents and pupils in the Salzlandkreis can now easily apply for their school travel passes online, without any paperwork or extra trips. The Salzlandkreis is expanding its range of digital services and launched the online application page a week ago. Around 7,000 pupils and their parents or guardians will benefit from this.
"The Salzland district has set out on this journey for them. The result is a compact system, an in-house solution and not a bought-in one," emphasises District Administrator Markus Bauer. "Perhaps an initial spark for other districts. They are welcome to adopt it," he adds and says: "We are becoming increasingly digital because it speeds up processes. If it's easier for parents to get their children's school travelcards, that's an absolute added value for them. And the administration also optimises its processes with and for everyone involved and can fulfil its tasks faster and more securely."
To this end, the district administration's digitalisation and innovation unit and the district and economic development department responsible for school transport have analysed the previous processes between parents, schools, administration and the district transport company - in some cases several times back and forth - with a view to digital optimisation. With the support of the specialist software manufacturer for processing pupil data, with whom the district works, they developed a new platform that complies with data protection regulations and is secure. The data and encrypted documents are stored on the Salzland district's own servers and do not leave the premises.
"This will save us thick folders in future." Head of specialised services Tilo Wechselberger appreciates the advantages. "We've been online for a week now. We've already received 450 applications and are processing those confirmed by the school, which would otherwise take several weeks.
Parents enter the relevant application details on the website and upload the required passport photos. The district and school are immediately informed about each case. The school checks the accuracy of the school attendance details and confirms them. Then the specialised procedure in the district administration can run until approval is granted. The KVG is notified and issues the school travel passes. In the meantime, parents receive an email about the status and know whether their application is awaiting confirmation from the school, whether they may need to make improvements or whether it has been submitted to the district administration for final processing. Everything is digital - apart from the chip card, of course, which is issued as usual on the first day of school via the school secretariats. Only the vocational school students receive a QR code for using the app with their smartphone.
Tilo Wechselberger adds: "Of course, applications already submitted in paper form will also be processed as usual. It is not necessary to submit a new application. It is also important to note that Deutschlandtickets that have already been issued are only blocked during the summer holidays and will be reactivated from the new school year; so please don't throw them away. The application is required for activation, everything else happens digitally in the background."