Teachers worried as student census happening tomorrow; will lack of Aadhaar lead to designation loss?

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: There is concern that the lack of permanent Aadhaar numbers for children admitted to first class in public schools will result in the loss of teaching posts. The sixth working day for counting the number of students is tomorrow. The government order says that only children with Aadhaar will be considered.

Children apply for Aadhaar at the time of admission to first class. Many have not received Aadhaar, and most of those who have received it have a temporary number. The order says that even if the child is in class, if the Aadhaar number is temporary, it should not be taken into account. Teachers demand that children who have received a temporary number should also be included. Aadhaar was made mandatory from the 2020-21 academic year.

Division will be affected, posts will be reduced

The teacher-student ratio in a class is 1:30 in a school with classes one to four. Another division will be allowed if there are 31 children. If one of the children does not have Aadhaar, not only the second division but also the teaching post will be lost. This will lead to the redeployment of teachers.

Children of other state workers do not have Aadhaar

Due to the difficulty in providing birth certificates for children of other state workers, Aadhaar is not available for them. Although there is no obstacle for them to continue their studies, they will not be included in the number of children for designation determination.

'The date for registering Aadhaar should be extended till July 15 as there is a possibility of designation loss'.

- G. Sunilkumar, General Secretary, KPPHA

'Even those who had registered for Aadhaar months ago are not getting UID numbers, so the deadline should be extended till July 15. Children of other state workers who do not have Aadhaar due to technical reasons should also be included'.

- K. Abdul Majeed, State President, KPSTA

Kerala lags behind in Aadhaar for children

NEW DELHI: Kerala is the worst-hit state in the country in registering Aadhaar for children under five years of age, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said. The problem is the rush to register Aadhaar at the time of school admission. It will be available within a month. Factors like accuracy of documents and technical issues are crucial.

2,98,848- Last year's student enrolment (after estimation)