APAAR: One Nation, One Student Scheme

APAAR: One Nation, One Student Scheme

Important for Prelims:

APAR Scheme: One Nation-One Student ID and National New Education Policy 2020

Important for Mains Exam:

APAAR: One Nation One Student ID Registration Scheme, Its Provisions and Concerns

October 21, 2023

Why in News:

  • The Union Education Ministry has recently proposed to implement Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) i.e. One Nation, One Student scheme in all the states of the country.
  • This scheme has been named ‘One Nation, One Student ID’.
  • The main goal of this scheme is to create a seamless educational ecosystem and facilitate better tracking of academic activities and achievements of students

About APAAR:

  • Full name of APAAR is Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry, which has been launched by the Ministry of Education as One Nation One Student ID Registration Scheme.
  • National Educational Technology Forum (NETF) under the Ministry of Education has initiated the concept of creating a comprehensive educational ecosystem registry, which is proposed to include students, teachers, schools and colleges.
  • The scheme provides a unique identification number to students using their Aadhaar number with parental consent.
  • Objective: To simplify and streamline the transfer and admission process of students among educational institutions across the country.
  • Additionally, teachers are required to update students' blood group, height and weight in the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) database.
  • Known as EduLocker, the system enables students to digitally track their academic progress and co-curricular achievements.

Enrollment Process:

  • Schools will be responsible for the enrollment process with parental consent.
  • Parents have the option to withdraw their consent at any time.
  • Data will be shared with government agencies only when necessary.
  • Student data will be stored centrally in the District Information Education Portal.

Significance:

  • It will help in tracking the educational progress and achievements of the students.
  • Students can store all the achievements digitally, like exam results, learning outcomes, achievements in Olympiads, sports, skill training etc.
  • Students can use the credit score in future for the purpose of their higher education or employment.
  • Aadhaar number will remain hidden while sharing data with other government users.
  • Personal information, such as name, address, age, date of birth, gender and photograph will be collected.
  • Available to institutions engaged in various educational activities, scholarships, educational institutions.
  • This will make transfer from one school to another easier.
  • This will help in monitoring school dropouts and bringing them into the mainstream.
  • New students entering the education system can also be tracked.

Concerns related to One Nation One Student ID scheme:

  • Data Security: Due to ongoing concerns about the data security of Aadhaar and several instances of data breaches, many people have raised concerns about the One Nation One Student ID registration process.
  • Administrative burden on schools: Schools have been asked to create awareness about APAR ID among parents and inform them about its use before taking their consent.
  • Impact on Education: Schools have completed the Aadhaar card update of students on UDISE. Now, this new ID card with updates on each student's height, weight and blood-group will not leave teachers time to focus on education.
  • Unrest among teachers: The list of non-academic tasks given to teachers is increasing while there is unrest among teachers due to inadequate number of teachers.

Conclusion:

  • One Nation One Student ID initiative follows the recommendations of the committee constituted to implement 'One Nation, One Election' in India under the leadership of former President Ram Nath Kovind. For the implementation of this plan, it is necessary to resolve the arising and related concerns. Governments need to reassure the public about data security and do more on security checks and updating of technologies.

Source-IA

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Mains Exam Question

What is APAAR scheme? Write about the significance and challenges of this scheme.