The Education Department’s move to introduce APAAR (Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry), which is a specialised identification system designed for all students in India, is a good move and in line with reforms. However, the way it has been executed exposes the poor lack of communication in the system yet again.
While the initial circular prescribes the APAAR rollout for a few classes, confusion prevailed as schools began gathering data across all divisions and classes. On Friday, schools were frantically calling parents and students to make submissions of Aadhaar cards so that data could be uploaded to meet the deadline of 26th October (Saturday). Those parents who declined to share their Aadhaar data were asked to give a written submission. That’s not all. There was another twist to the tale.
The department clarified later in the evening that APAAR registration is not mandatory, leaving schools, parents, and students even more confused. Either the Education Department has not learnt from past failures in communication, or it just doesn’t care about what happens on the ground. Sad.
