As part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, Nagaland government is set to implement ‘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.
Speaking to Nagaland Post, School Education principal director (PD) Thavaseelan K said that the initiative would be very helpful for all students as their academic data such as degrees, scholarships, rewards and other credits could be saved digitally, accessed at one go and could be even transferred.
He mentioned that educational institutions had been instructed to organise meetings of parents and teachers between October 16 and 18 to discuss the importance of APAAR ID. Thavaseelan said the initiative would help the students when they go for higher studies, but added that this would be done only after their parents gave their consent.
He assured that the data would stay confidential and would be shared only with government agencies where required. 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.
Schools function normally on Saturdays: Despite the prior announcement by School Education and SCERT adviser Kekhrielhoulie Yhome that schools in the state would remain closed on Saturdays, many schools functioned normally on Saturday, leaving many public to question the efficacy of the communication within the education system.
When asked if there was any specific reason why this decision had not been implemented, the PD clarified that the schools had designed their academic calendar in such a way that the first and third Saturday were working days. Hence, in the middle of the year, he pointed out that the management faced difficulties in keeping their schools shut, as that would have meant their syllabus remained incomplete, thereby impacting the exams.
But, as announced by the adviser, Thavaseelan assured that the decision would definitely be implemented. He disclosed that a modality was being worked out to make sure that this was implemented from the next academic session.
SMILE app launched: Meanwhile, the Education Department has launched the SMILE app, a system for physical verification of teachers, to control and monitor proxy teaching.
When asked about the status of the ongoing project, Thavaseelan said the system was being implemented in two blocks in Kohima and Phek districts.
“As of now we have completed the exercise of creating a database of all the employees in all districts. We are in the process of providing tablets to all schools and once that was done, we will be able to roll out. We are also working on creating procedures on working in the field and hopefully by the next academic year, it will fully be functional,” he explained.
He assured that the department was working on several issues to streamlining the education system such as stopping proxy teachers, tackling service issues, etc.
He said the department was also working on two main aspects under the NECTAR project, funded by the World Bank to strengthen the school governance and improving the teaching and learning environment.