Context: 

This article is based on the news “Education Minister says APAAR to be aspirational and global document for students in India” which was published in the All India Radio. At the national conference on ‘APAAR ID: One Nation One Student ID Card’,  it was revealed that about 25 crore Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) have been created.

APAAR Scheme To Be Aspirational and Global Document For Students in India: Education Minister

• The Education Minister has said that the Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) will be the aspirational and global document for students in India.
• The interconnectivity of APAAR IDs, Academic Bank of Credit, and Digilocker has provided ease of operations.

APAAR ID Card: Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry 

• Definition: APAAR ID is a unique and permanent 12-digit ID given to every student .
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Education
• Features: It will be a lifelong ID number. 
  • It is an Education Ecosystem Registry or an ‘EduLocker’. 
  • It is an initiative introduced in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) of 2020 and the National Credit and Qualifications Framework (NCrF).
  • APAAR ID is linked to the student’s Aadhaar ID, although it does not replace it.
  • It streamlines the admission process when students get transferred between educational institutions nationwide.
  • It enables the students to seamlessly track their academic journey and achievements.
  • It aims to centralise academic data.
  • It acts as a digital repository for academic records, certificates, and other educational information.

• Beneficiaries of APAAR ID 

  • Individual Student/Lifelong Learner, Teacher and Parent
  • Individual School (UDISE/CBSE/ICSE/IB/State Education Boards)
  • Individual HEI (Universities/INIs, Autonomous Colleges, Stand-alone Institutes etc)
  • Public Skilling Entities (Skill India Digital/MoSDE/State Skilling Corporations or Councils)
  • Private Skilling Entities (EduTech Companies)
  • Regulatory Authorities (UGC, AICTE, ICMR, BCI etc., and the Ministry of Education)

• Working of APAAR ID

• • APAAR ID linkage with Academic Bank Credit (ABC): Every individual will have a unique APAAR ID, which will be linked to the Academic Bank Credit (ABC), which is a digital storehouse that contains information of the credits earned by students throughout their learning journey. 
  • Storing of certificates and credits: With the APAAR ID, students would be able to store all their certificates and credits, whether they come from formal education or informal learning. 
  • When a student completes a course or achieves something, it’s digitally certified and securely stored in her account by authorised institutions.
  • Ease in transfers: If the student changes schools, whether within the state or to another state, all her data in the ABC gets transferred to her new school just by sharing the APAAR ID. She won’t need to provide physical documents or transfer certificates.

Concerns Regarding APAAR Scheme

• Data Security: The issues regarding aadhaar data security, and instances of data breach have raised concerns about the scheme.
• Administrative Burden on Schools: Schools have been asked to create awareness about APAAR ID among parents and to inform them about its uses before taking their consent.
• Effect on Academics: The teachers are responsible for updating the students’ blood group, height, and weight in the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) database. There are chances that teachers would focus less on the academics of the students.
• Unrest among Teachers: The non-academic tasks given to teachers keeps increasing while the number of teachers remains inadequate.
• Consent issues: At any given time, students have the option to stop sharing their information with the mentioned parties, and their data processing will be halted. However, any personal data already processed will remain unaffected if consent is withdrawn.