National Conference on APAAR Inaugurated: One Nation One Student ID

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated a national conference to celebrate the creation of 25 crore "APAAR: One Nation One Student ID Card". 

• The APAAR ID is a unique and aspirational document for Indian students, which is intended to have global recognition. This ID is linked to the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) of the respective student. 
• All academic achievements, certificates, credentials, formal or informal credits earned from different sources, including skilling credits, sports or social work are stored in the ABC system and digitally verified by the agency awarding those credits.

What is APAAR?

• The Indian government is introducing a new identification system called the Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR), also known as 'One Nation, One Student ID,' as part of the National Education Policy of 2020. APAAR is an 'EduLocker.'
•  It aims to create a registry of the entire education ecosystem, including students, teachers, schools, and colleges.
• The aim of this registry is to reduce educational gaps and promote technology-based interventions in the education sector. 
• The registry is called APAAR and it is expected to assign a unique identification number to every student enrolled in pre-primary to higher education, in addition to their Aadhaar ID.

How can a Student get Enrolment?

• The enrollment process of students in schools will be handled by the school authorities with the parents' consent. The parents can withdraw their consent at any point in time. 
• The government has ensured that the student's data will only be shared with relevant government agencies when required. 
• All the information collected by schools about each student will be saved in a centralized District Information for Education system.
• The APAAR is a unique ID number assigned to each student that will remain the same throughout their academic journey. 
• This number will help students keep a record of their academic progress and achievements, including their exam results, learning outcomes, and co-curricular accomplishments such as rankings in Olympiads or gaining specialized skills. 
• The APAAR ID will also make the process of transferring from one school to another easier. All necessary admission documents are available in one place, simplifying the process.

What are the Challenges involved?

• There are concerns about the security of Aadhaar's data, as it has suffered frequent data breaches. 
• As a result, many people are hesitant to begin the APAAR registration process. School authorities are worried about the optional Aadhaar verification of students. 
• The addition of the APAAR registry could increase the administrative workload of the teaching faculty.