[m8002?]

My kid's school is behind us to get this APAAR ID generated. Though the "official" stand from Government is its optional, the schools are pressurised to get all students enrolled in it.

The consent form explicitly states that your personal data can be used for almost anything. Here is the quote

I understand that my APAAR ID may be used and shared for limited purposes as may be notified by Ministry of Education from time-to-time for educational and related activities. Further I am also aware that my personal identifiable information (Name, Address, Age, Date of Birth, Gender and Photograph) may be made available to entities engaged in various educational activities such as UDISE+ database, scholarships, maintenance academic records, other stakeholders like Educational Institutions and recruitment agencies.

How are others resisting it. We already have Aadhaar linked to everything and I am not keen on another ID for my son.

[anandbangalore]

Very relevant discussion and thank you for starting this.

We parents (small group) are split 50:50 on this requirement. While the notification from my kids school uses the verbiage "GoI has mandated the generation of an APAAR ID for all students", other schools have used varying messaging.

It would be great to hear an opinion from the large group in TEAM-BHP.

BTW - What is the source where you read the official stance is 'Optional'?

[RaguHolla]

I have written over consent form is that, we do not authorise, along with reason stating that as per existsing benefits my Son doesn't qualify any of them because general merit, in Red pen.

Additionally, I have communicated to the school that this consent is optional. If the Block Development Officer insists on this matter, he needs to interact with me directly. The school has confirmed via email that they will honor our consent.

What frustrates me is that private institutions like ALLEN are now demanding Aadhar for their entrance tests. Except for my son, everyone in his class has simply complied!


It's disheartening to see that people do not care about their data, making it harder for those of us who do.

Furthermore, the school frequently requests Aadhar for various purposes. I often send a virtual Aadhar copy with a note in red ink stating, "For viewing only, cannot be copied, digitized, or mentioned in any database in physical or electronic forms."

We understand that we have no way of tracking these statements. If any government agency ever claims to have my son's Aadhar, and we face issues in the future, I can always challenge the legality of such actions.

[m8002?]

Originally Posted by anandbangalore

BTW - What is the source where you read the official stance is 'Optional'?

The consent form itself mentions "voluntarily give consent". It also mentions that we can withdraw our consent at anytime in the future.

The NTA has also clarified that APAAR ID is optional for the 2025 exams.

My elder son's 10th and 12th marks are already linked to Aadhaar and in DigiLocker. So I dont see any reason why they should be linked to another ID.

[UD17]

APAAR- could be optional now (which i am not sure it is), but it will be way forward in keeping repository for all students. Now or later one had to get this done.

I have done for my kids. My wife also has this ID now (she is pursuing PHD).

[Naetik30]

Tried evading it for a few weeks. But repeated queries to my son by the class teacher and in return his pressure on me was impossible to handle. Finally succumbed.

PS: Byjus, Akash and Allen salivating on the side streets.

[m8002?]

Originally Posted by UD17

APAAR- could be optional now (which i am not sure it is), but it will be way forward in keeping repository for all students. Now or later one had to get this done.

I have done for my kids. My wife also has this ID now (she is pursuing PHD).

Can you please explain how this new number will help that Aadhaar already doesnt. The school and the board already has the Aadhar number. Its linked to his passport and all other docs.
So what does this bring in on top of that? I would have still gone ahead with it if they mentioned that it will be available only to govt. agencies for tracking the education history. But being made available to anyone is not good.

[Naetik30]

Originally Posted by m8002?

Can you please explain how this new number will help that Aadhaar already doesnt. The school and the board already has the Aadhar number. Its linked to his passport and all other docs.
So what does this bring in on top of that? I would have still gone ahead with it if they mentioned that it will be available only to govt. agencies for tracking the education history. But being made available to anyone is not good.

Well you answered your questions yourself.

Aadhar has a little more security and access restrictions. None for AAPAAR. Better and easier for educational training centers to focus and get access to a single easy to access database for marketing, ainit.

[m8002?]

Originally Posted by Naetik30

Well you answered your questions yourself.

Aadhar has a little more security and access restrictions. None for AAPAAR. Better and easier for educational training centers to focus and get access to a single easy to access database for marketing, ainit.

I know and that is what is frustrating . Especially kids information. I am sure its a matter of time they will insist this on admission to Nursery.

I want to hear from folks who have enthusiastically given all the info what additional services they are expecting from this :-)

[binand]

Based on my Aadhaar experience (refused to take one for years, but eventually had to when they made PAN linking mandatory), I don't see much point in resisting. In fact, in this case I'm of the view that taking it might be helpful to our children and we might be owing it to them. Some of the things I imagine that are going to be doable only with APAAR ID or significantly easier with APAAR ID are:

1. Credit transfers.
2. Internships/projects.
3. The so-called "counselling" associated with JEE/NEET and other competitive exams.
4. Stream-of-study changes.
5. Mix-and-match of subjects to build one's own major/minor.
6. Change of school / college.
7. Visiting scholar / Exchange student initiatives.
8. Lifecycle changes like going from X to XI or XII to 1st year of graduation.
9. Domicile quota.
10. Scholarships (with a merit qualifier).

Also why an additional ID instead of Aadhaar? Because domain-specific IDs that are linked with Aadhaar are better than linking everything directly with Aadhaar (in the latter case, protecting and partitioning information will become a problem).

[deathwalkr]

Another day, Another id card.

Then to link this with Aadhaar. Sorry name mismatch or DOB differs. Correct it and then reapply.

Then after 5 years have to do it again because child would have grown up a bit and photos need to be changed.

What purpose does this id card serve for children?

[UD17]

Originally Posted by m8002?

Can you please explain how this new number will help that Aadhaar already doesnt.

This is how it is for every domain we touch: for taxes different card, For election- different card, for driving- different card, for travelling- passport and most are linked to Aadhaar.

I saw deathwalkr had already replied on some advantages. My Aadhaar number can not provide any info of my certificates as of now.

[redCherry]

It was optional in my kids' school case. I chose to opt out.

I am sure it will be made mandatory sometime in near future, just like they are enforcing sharing of Aadhaar in the name of Student Tracking System in Karnataka

[wheelspinner]

Originally Posted by m8002?

How are others resisting it. We already have Aadhaar linked to everything and I am not keen on another ID for my son.

One word, if there is a consent option. Just opt out. Why give up your data to them? Pretty sure this data might be sold to third parties as big data or data brokers will scavenge on it.

[ValarMorghulis]

I think apart from a Student ID, the government also plans to make a health ID.

The idea is one number linked to Adhaar (identity) for different purposes:
1. Driving: License
2. Education: Apaar
3. Taxation: PAN
4. Travel: Passport
5. Suffrage: Voter ID and so on...