THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a major embarrassment to the general education department, it has come to light that the Aadhaar-based data of nearly 6% of the students in the state’s government and aided schools in the current academic year are inaccurate. This has cast doubt over the accuracy of the government’s oft-quoted figures relating to student enrolment and the staff fixation that was carried out based on those numbers.
The details emerged in a report submitted by the Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) to the general education department. According to an official, the report was compiled in September last year after collating data entered by the schools across the state.
The Aadhaar data received were classified broadly into three categories valid, invalid and not given. Errors related to name, gender, etc, would fall in the invalid category, the official said. “Though it was found that close to 80,000 students had not provided their Aadhaar details, the number has come down as the academic year progressed,” the official said. It is reliably learnt that of the 33.4 lakh students whose data was verified, KITE found that Aadhaar details of 3.41% of the students were invalid and another 2.37% had not furnished the UID details.
Senior officials of the department said the discrepancies were ‘technical’. “The report was prepared in the middle of the academic year and schools have carried out rectification measures after that. The technical issues will soon be addressed,” said an official.
AADHAAR WOES
Total students - 33.44 lakh
Valid - 94.2 %
Invalid - 3.41%
Not given - 2.37%