New Delhi

The Union Ministry has started the process of introducing ‘One Nation, One Student ID’ for school students around the country. It will be a life-long ID that will track students’ achievements and academic journeys. 

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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. This new initiative is named as Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR).

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What is APAAR?

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The Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR), dubbed as ‘One Nation, One Student ID’, 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.

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.

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NEFT was created under the Ministry of Education as an autonomous body to look into educational gaps and create a strategic thrust on tech-based intervention in the education domain. 

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. 

Enrolment process

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.

How will it benefit students?

The APAAR being a lifelong ID number 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. 

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Challenges involved

Given the ongoing concerns about Aadhaar's data security, and the numerous instances of data breaches, many people have raised concerns about the initiation of the APAAR registration process.

On the other hand, school authorities have raised the issue of already pending Aadhaar verification of students, which is kept optional. The addition of the APAAR registry can increase the administrative burden on the teaching faculty.

(With inputs from agencies)

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