States directed to begin process of creating APAAR IDs
School students will soon have their own unique identification number, provided of course their parents give consent. As part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Union ministry of education has planned to create ‘One Nation, One Student ID’ called ‘Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) for every student from pre-primary to higher education.
This is in addition to the 12-digit Aadhaar ID that every student has. The APAAR ID, an Education Ecosystem Registry or edulocker is to be treated as a lifelong identification number and will track students’ academic journey and achievements.
Ministry of education has directed all States and union territories to begin the process of creating APAAR IDs for students. “APAAR and National Credit Framework (NCrF) will be the new QR code for learners across India. Every skill they pick up will be credited here,” said T G Sitharaman, AICTE chairman.
The school education department has asked educational institutions to organise a meeting of parents and teachers between October 16 &18 to discuss importance of creating APAAR ID.
Data captured on the Aadhaar ID will be the basis of the APAAR ID. School heads said they are already struggling to update the Aadhaar details of students on the portal.
“We are still rectifying mistakes in students’ names on their Aadhar cards,” said a school principal. Across the state, over 19 lakh students do not have Aadhaar cards. Another 40 lakh students’ Aadhaar cards have errors in name, sex and date of birth.
While parents’ consent will be required, government has assured the data will stay confidential and will be shared only with government agencies, where required. Parents who give their consent can withdraw it any time.
After parents give consent, it becomes the school’s responsibility to upload the same on the central Unified District and Information System For Education Plus (UDISE+) portal. A number of schools have still not uploaded students’ data of 2022-23 on the portal. In addition to students, teachers/faculty and educational institutions registry ID will also be created.