What is the APAAR ID?
It's the Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry, a "One Nation, One Student ID" linked to Aadhaar and stored in DigiLocker.
It aims to standardize and store students' academic accomplishments for easy transitions between educational institutions.
It's generated through the UDISE+ portal, which collects educational data.
It's a key part of the NEP 2020's data collection overhaul.
Is APAAR mandatory?
Officially, it's voluntary, according to the government's website.
However, CBSE circulars and state-level directives create pressure for schools to achieve "100% saturation."
Parents often don't receive clear information about its voluntary nature.
The Union government has reconfirmed the optional nature of APAAR in response to a Parliament query.
What about data security?
There's a lack of transparency about APAAR's policy documents, with RTI applications being repeatedly transferred.
Concerns exist about the wide range of data collected, beyond just academic records.
Collecting data of minors without a specific law is considered potentially unconstitutional.
Teachers see it as redundant, as much of the data is already in UDISE+.
Concerns exist about the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)'s and data sharing, and how children's data could be used by third parties, against the digital personal data protection act.
How is an APAAR ID generated?
Schools verify student details (name, date of birth).
Parents fill out a consent form.
The school authenticates, and the ID is generated.
Issues arise with name mismatches between school records and identity documents.
Is there a way to opt out?
Parents can write to schools and opt out.
The Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC) provides a template for opt-out letters.
However, pressure is increasing, with states like Uttar Pradesh threatening action against schools with low APAAR registration.
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