KOHIMA: In a bid to streamline the education framework of Nagaland, the government is set to roll out Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) as part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
This initiative will see every student, from pre-primary to higher education levels, getting a unique identification number, distinct from the existing 12-digit Aadhaar ID.
Thavaseelan K, the Principal Director (PD) of School Education, while speaking to a local daily, extolled the virtues of the APAAR ID, highlighting it as a one-stop “edulocker” that will chronicle a student’s entire academic journey and accolades.
This system, he told the press, would be instrumental for students to consolidate their academic data ranging from degrees, scholarships to rewards, which would all be digitally stored and easily accessible.
Thavaseelan informed that educational institutions had been directed to organise parent-teacher meetings between October 16 and 18 to deliberate on the importance and implications of APAAR ID.
While he envisaged this initiative to be advantageous for students aspiring for higher education, he also stressed that its implementation would be contingent upon receiving parental consent.
Addressing concerns about data privacy, the Principal Director assured that all collected data would remain strictly confidential, with access limited only to certain government agencies.
Post receiving the required permissions, the schools would be mandated to update this information on the Unified District and Information System For Education Plus (UDISE+) portal, he further informed.
Adding to the list of reforms, the Education Department also unveiled the ‘SMILE app’ – an innovative system targeting physical verification of teachers to curtail and oversee proxy teaching.
The pilot phase has been initiated in two blocks spanning Kohima and Phek districts. After elaborating on the advancements made in the project, Thavaseelan expressed optimism about the app being fully operational by the forthcoming academic year.
