NEW DELHI: The central government plans to implement a single identity card for all school students. This will apply to all government and private schools. The scheme 'One Nation, One Student ID' is being implemented as part of the National Education Policy (NEP 2020). The scheme will be called the Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR).

Identity cards will be issued to students from pre-primary classes to higher secondary schools. APAAR ID will be a lifetime identity card for students, which will be counted as EduLocker. Each student will have a unique ID that will be used to track their academic development, achievements, and other information.

State governments have directed all schools to obtain consent from parents of students for the production of APAAR ID cards. 'The APAAR Card will be a new QR code for all students in the country', said TG Seetharaman, chairman of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

The state education departments have instructed the educational institutions to hold a meeting with the participation of parents and teachers to discuss the APAAR Card. The meeting has been announced to be held between October 16 and 18. In this regard, the government has asked the teachers to collect information such as blood group, height and weight of children and provide it on the Central Government's Unified District Information System for Education website. Meanwhile, school heads say they are struggling to enter children's Aadhaar details on the portal.