BHUBANESWAR: Generation of automated permanent academic account registry (APAAR) IDs, launched by the Centre to establish ‘One Nation, One Student ID’ in the country, has remained critically low in Odisha.
Generation of APAAR IDs, a specialised identification system designed for students across the country, has only been around 10 per cent in the state so far, placing it at 18th rank nationally, said sources in the directorate of Higher Secondary Education (DHSE).
The directorate attributed the poor show to the disturbingly low generation of APAAR IDs in districts like Ganjam, Koraput and Mayurbhanj, where a high enrolment of students have been recorded in the higher secondary level.
As per the DHSE statistics, out of 8,41,718 students of classes XI and XII enrolled in the SAMS portal, APAAR IDs have been generated for only 84,677 students so far. Ganjam, despite having a high enrolment of 69,487 students, has created IDs for only five per cent of them.
Koraput and Mayurbhanj, meanwhile, are also moving at a snail’s pace with 3 pc to 4 pc ID creation rate till date. Similarly, Balasore, Boudh, Cuttack, Khurda and Puri are the other districts with low rate of ID generation. In the meantime, districts like Jharsuguda and Angul have performed well with 41 pc and 22 pc ID generation respectively. Kalahandi, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal and Sambalpur have also shown improvement.
Keeping this in view, the DHSE has asked all higher secondary schools (HSSs) across the state to expedite completion of APAAR ID generation for both Class XI and XII students to improve the state’s rank as these IDs are essential for tracking the students’ academic record and support them with educational benefits.
Officials said APAAR initiative is a part of the ‘One Nation, One Student ID’ programme launched by the Centre, aligning with the new National Education Policy - 2020. The system enables comprehensive monitoring of students’ educational journey, helping in reduction of dropout rates and tracking of out-of-school children.
It is also directly linked to Digi Locker system and facilitates the digital storage of academic achievements of students including their exam results and extracurricular accomplishments.