APAAR: Student Identification with "One Nation, One ID"

Nov. 2, 2023, 12:01 p.m.

In a move towards educational innovation and streamlined identification, the government is set to launch APAAR (Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry) which is also known as ‘One Nation, one student ID’ and ‘EduLocker’.

APAAR aims to transform the educational landscape by providing a unified identification system for students across the nation. The APAAR will give a unique identification number to each student enrolled from pre-primary to higher education. The enrolment process will be conducted by the school after obtaining the consent of parents. Parents have the option to withdraw their consent at any point of time.

This pioneering initiative has its salient features and implications. At the heart of APAAR is the vision to centralise student records, making it easy to digitally store academic and co-curricular achievements, and their learning outcomes, among other things.

This system has remarkable benefits ranging from efficient record management for educational institutions to facilitating seamless student transitions between academic institutions. The principle behind APAAR aligns perfectly with the broader goals of digital governance in education. The major highlight is that this system has a potential impact on reducing hurdles in processes like admissions and document verification.

As we move towards a more digitally connected era, APAAR stands as a testament to the government's commitment to modernise and enhance the efficiency of the education system. This ID is in addition to the already existing Aadhaar ID and will be a lifelong ID number for students to track their academic journey and achievements. As there are two sides to any new venture, various concerns are being raised regarding the initiation of the APAAR registration process and data security.