Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India vision the country has taken big strides in building digital public infrastructure (DPI) in the education sector and other areas, making it a dominant global player in this domain, said Union Minister of Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan.
While speaking at the National Conference on APAAR: One Nation One Student ID Card, Pradhan highlighted the importance of several important DPIs developed in the country in recent years and mentioned how 53 such DPIs have been developed in 16 countries, out of which 19 are in India.
Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision on “Digital India”, the minister said 25 crore APAAR IDs for students have already been created. He also underscored the importance of the interconnectivity of APAAR IDs, Academic Bank of Credit, and Digilocker, creating ease of operations. He also mentioned the other important digital assets like Swayam, DIKSHA, etc.
The Education Minister said APAAR ID was an initiative in the direction of having a uniform credit architecture across the country. “There could be small problems in achieving big targets but in academic year 2024-25, all institutions should adopt this in a time-bound manner. They should settle the credit architecture there.”
“APAAR is a wheel for starting a long journey. A lot of force, energy and ideas will come along the way,” he said, asking institutions and decision-makers not to get intimidated by the disruptions that they may face while moving forward.
Pradhan emphasized how the APAAR ID is going to be the aspirational and global document for the students of the country. The Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) is a transformative initiative introduced in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) of 2020 and the National Credit and Qualifications Framework (NCrF).
It aims to provide a unified and accessible academic experience for students across India by assigning a unique and permanent 12-digit ID to every student, consolidating their academic achievements in one place.
Pradhan also highlighted the role of NEP2020 in incorporating the provisions of migration and integration without compromising on the quality of education. It is important to make competency aspirational, which comes through skilling, along with knowledge, he also said.
Two panel discussions on addressing the integration of APAAR ID and Credit Systems with Job Profiles and on exploring the evolving role of DigiLocker in education were conducted during the event.