Mangaluru: The initiative to issue 12-digit Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) IDs to students across government, aided, and private schools has gained momentum. Schools have intensified the registration process, and the education department has decided to further expedite the initiative.

The program aims to provide APAAR ID cards to 1.04 crore students across 75,960 schools in Karnataka. So far, 10.13 lakh students (9.68%) have been registered. Similar to Aadhaar cards, APAAR IDs feature a unique 12-digit number.

Registration Process

Since it is mandatory for every student to have an APAAR ID, schools are issuing consent forms to parents. Parents must fill out these forms, attach copies of the student’s and parents’ Aadhaar cards, and submit them back to the school along with the student’s birth certificate. In some cases, parents are personally visiting schools to complete the registration process.

To address additional queries, some schools have convened urgent parent meetings.

National Initiative

The APAAR system was introduced as part of the National Education Policy (NEP) by the Ministry of Education to create a uniform student identification system nationwide. This initiative is currently being implemented across various states, with Karnataka commencing it just a few days ago.

Challenges

Registration is yet to start in 62.19% of the schools (47,240 out of 75,960) due to limited awareness among parents. In some cases, parents have expressed concerns or confusion about the initiative, prompting teachers and education officials to clarify and guide them. Certain parents have requested full transparency before implementation.

What is APAAR?

Similar to Aadhaar, APAAR is designed to maintain students’ academic records in a secure, centralized system. It will serve as a reference for admissions to educational institutions across India. The platform will track students’ academic performance, activities, and achievements. It will also store details of scholarships, ensuring transparency and ease of access. Schools will regularly update APAAR with relevant data, which can be reviewed using the student’s unique ID.

“APAAR Registration is Progressing”

“APAAR provides a permanent 12-digit unique ID for every student. It records comprehensive academic information that will assist throughout the student’s educational and professional journey. The registration process is actively ongoing across schools,” said Venkatesh Patgar& Ganapati, DDPIs for Dakshina Kannada & Udupi respectively.

Translated from a Kannada article by Dinesh Ira