New Delhi: School students all over the country will be issued life-long IDs that will track their achievements and academic journeys. It will be called APAAR or the Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry. Dubbed ‘One Nation, One Student ID’, it is an Education Ecosystem Registry or an ‘EduLocker’. It was part of the National Education Policy (NEP) of 2020, under which the government aims to create unique ID numbers for school students across India.
The Union Education Ministry recently notified the states to obtain the consent of parents of all schools under their respective jurisdiction to initiate the enrolment process for the same, Wion reported.
Earlier in May this year, the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF) head and former AICTE chairman Dr Anil Sahasrabuddhe had mentioned working on a registry of the entire educational ecosystem, comprising students, teachers, and schools and colleges. The APAAR will give each student enrolled from pre-primary to higher education a unique identification number. This will be in addition to the already existing Aadhaar ID that every individual has.
The enrolment process will be carried out by the school, with the consent of their parents, who will also be able to withdraw their consent at any given point in time. The government assured that the data will be shared only with concerned government agencies if and when required. The data collected on each student by the schools will be stored in a centrally functioning District Information for Education portal, the report added.
Being a lifelong ID number, the APAAR will make it easier for students to track their academic journey and achievements. They will be able to digitally store their exam results, learning outcomes, and co-curricular achievements, such as rankings in Olympiads or receiving specialised skills. It will also be helpful in the hassle-free transfer of a student from one school to another, as all the documents required for admission will be obtained in one place.
