CHENNAI: Even as the Tamil Nadu government is resisting the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP), several private and matriculation schools in the State are said to be forcing parents to give consent for creating automated permanent academic account registry (APAAR) identification for every student in the State, as per instructions from the Union government.

The APAAR ID is part of the ‘One Nation, One Student ID’ initiative by the Union Ministry of Education in line with the NEP.The ID is a unique 12-digit identification number given to each student, which will store the academic records from elementary classes to the collegiate level.

Raising concerns about data safety, some of the parents told DT Next that they had refused to provide consent to create the APAAR ID for their child using their Aadhaar card. "Such a move in itself is concerning," opined a parent.

A notification sent by a Chennai matriculation school — which follows the TN syllabus — in Keelkattalai read, “As per the government guidelines, we are in the process of creating APAAR ID for students for opening 'DigiLocker account'. For this, the parents have been directed to provide their Aadhaar number, which will be used for the child’s APAAR ID registration, the notification added.

It also read that APAAR ID will securely store the academic records of students and make their access to educational services easier.

Speaking to DT Next, GM Shankar, a parent of a class 10 student studying in a Chennai school said, “On March 4, my daughter’s school sent a letter asking for my consent to create an APAAR ID with my Aadhaar card. Since then, the school had been pestering to give consent for the same. On March 17, I responded with a ‘no consent’ letter.”

Shankar who is also a state legal wing member of TN Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) noted that the letter did not have options to not give consent.

Another parent of a class 8 student, who questioned the mechanisms to protect the data collected, asked: “The government has been creating APAAR ID not only for school students but also college students, including medicine and engineering. Hence, the TN education department must intervene as it opposes NEP.

Education Department officials did not respond when contacted.