APPAR CARD - Will students really benefit?
The Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) also known as "One Nation, One student ID" is an Education Ecosystem Registry or an 'EduLocker'.
This registry will provide a unique identification number to each student from pre-primary to higher education. The APAAR, or EduLocker, will allow students to track their academic journey and achievements digitally, including co-curricular accomplishments. It aims to streamline the admission process for students transferring schools and colleges across the country. This will be in addition to the already existing Aadhaar ID.
Why was this launched?
The National Credit Framework (NCrF) and Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) are a manifestation of NEP’s call for interconnectedness of initiatives across formal, non-formal, and informal modes to make learning systems more holistic, multidisciplinary, and comprehensive to address diverse learning needs. Together, NCrF, APAAR along with Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) aim to create a wholesome ecosystem for recognising efforts through credits, providing seamless mobility across domains and opening up multiple pathways for future progression of students. The NCrF framework will enable creditisation of education and allow flexibility in the choice of qualifications between academic and vocational domains in India. This will provide seamless mobility across School Education, Higher Education, Vocational education and training/Skilling and opens up multiple pathways for the future progression of students. In theory, this framework is expected to democratize learning and promote retention through student-centered, customized self-paced learning allowing for multiple entries and exits.
The framework has been created by experts in the field of education and brought together an ecosystem of players- The National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), National E-Governance, National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), University Grants Commission (UGC) and National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
How will it help India's education system?
India has one of the largest education ecosystem in the world. Right from school to higher education, there are nearly 300 million students.
The NCrF framework aims to address these diverse stakeholders to be connected with the entire ecosystem ranging from school to higher education and the job market. This framework will integrate credits from school to higher education and skilling;
The registry ID will be based on UDISE ID in case of School Education and AISHE ID in case of Higher Education and PAN/TAN for other education providers, skill providers etc.
Will the NCrF and APAAR help students?
In my opinion the NCrF is a beautiful framework that can actually help bring in flexibility and equal recognition to the vast ecosystem of opportunities that NEP has to offer. The carrying of credits and choice between vocational , skilling and higher learning appears to be seamless, whether it can be the same in reality is something that we will know over a period of time where a lot more work around the implementation is completed.
The EduLocker which will help tackle challenges like lost documents and also help understand the education journey of an individual at a glance.
It will also bring dignity to skilling and vocational courses and eventually make a difference in increasing employment opportunities.
The data base itself will be extremely valuable to understand and predict future trends and connect the education outcomes to employment outcomes which today is a huge gap.
But is the NCrF and APAAR inclusive for all?
The answer in simple words is NO. As always we end up designing for the average population and leave out the most vulnerable.
Lets take 4 cases of exclusion-
While the APAAR card will help us get more accurate data of students who are no more in the system, the framework does not provide an alternate path for them. The integration does not mention these main channels -
The current framework has not been contextualised to include these vulnerable populations who will continue to remain excluded under this framework. The framework currently focuses on formalised education channels which is good but we must not forget that informal channels still remain a large part of our education system. How we can include these informal channels into the NCrF to give them equal recognition? This is an opportunity for India to formalise and recognise these channels which still continue to be the only opportunities available for the most vulnerable- those who Out of School Children, Never Enrolled students, Persons with Disabilities, Rural women, Minority Religion and other excluded populations.
The lens of inclusion cannot be an after thought but the fundamental base on which any framework is planned. While the roll out of the APAAR is taking place let us ensure that we don't forget and make vulnerable individuals invisible again. This framework can be a game changer for them if inclusion is at kept at the centre.