Dimapur: The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) has vehemently opposed the recent announcement by the Union education ministry to introduce the Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR), commonly referred to as the ‘One nation, one student ID’.
It urged the Union ministry to prioritise data security, address administrative challenges, and engage in a comprehensive dialogue with all stakeholders, including students and educational institutions, to develop a more robust and privacy-conscious solution for tracking students’ academic progress.
NSF president Medovi Rhi and assistant general secretary Kenilo Kent, in a statement, on Thursday said the APAAR poses significant challenges and concerns, undermining the rights and privacy of students and adding unnecessary burdens to educational institutions.
According to the federation, this “controversial initiative” has been designed to create an Education Ecosystem Registry, also known as ‘EduLocker.’
It said the APAAR, proposed by the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), is set to assign a unique identification number to every student enrolled from pre-primary to higher education in addition to their existing Aadhaar ID.
“While the government touts this as a solution for seamless tracking of academic progress and achievements, it raises several concerns,” the NSF said.
It argued that the ongoing concerns about data security and privacy breaches related to Aadhaar have not been adequately addressed in APAAR.
“At a time when data breaches are all too common, adding another layer of data collection and storage without comprehensive security measures is worrisome,” it opined.
Also, saying that the educational institutions are already grappling with administrative burdens, including the optional Aadhaar verification of students, the federation said introducing the APAAR registry would only add to the workload of teaching faculty and staff, potentially affecting the quality of education.
The NSF believed that the consent of parents for APAAR enrolment is insufficient to safeguard the rights and privacy of students.
It added the government’s assurance that the data will be shared only with concerned government agencies, while it does not eliminate the possibility of misuse or data breaches. It feared that a centrally functioning District Information for Education portal, as proposed, could become a potential target for cyber attacks, endangering the personal information of students.
Taking into account these critical concerns, the NSF called for reconsideration of the APAAR initiative.