Noida/Ghaziabad: Nearly four lakh students in Noida and Ghaziabad are yet to get Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) IDs, with private schools accounting for a significant share of the pendency. Officials said concerns among parents over sharing Aadhaar details are a key reason for the delay.In Gautam Budh Nagar, 1,07,076 students across 265 recognised private schools are yet to generate their APAAR IDs. In Ghaziabad, IDs of 2,99,142 students are pending, with 228 schools yet to initiate the process. Officials said the overall pendency in each district is around 38%, with private schools accounting for a major share.Schools have told officials that some parents have refused to give consent for APAAR registration, primarily due to concerns over sharing Aadhaar details. The issue gained significance after the Supreme Court ruled in July that schools cannot compel parents to provide Aadhaar consent. Aadhaar details, however, are required to generate APAAR IDs.Officials said the state govt is regularly seeking reports on APAAR generation and circulating school-wise pendency data to districts. Schools have been asked to engage with parents and address their concerns without coercing them into giving consent.“On one hand, schools must not force parents to submit their consent for the Aadhaar number for APAAR registration. However, it is also the responsibility of schools to make parents understand that APAAR will help their children maintain their academic records and documents in one place. For instance, if they lose hard copies of academic documents, APAAR ID through DigiLocker can help them fetch the documents in one go. The data is accessible only to the parents or students,” said Ruchi Tyagi, district coordinator of Ghaziabad’s basic education department.APAAR is a unique 12-digit student ID under the govt’s “One Nation, One Student ID” initiative. It is intended to create a centralised record of a student’s academic journey, including certificates and other educational documents. Officials said it can also help prevent duplication of student records across institutions.The ID is increasingly being required for academic applications. In some cases, it has already become mandatory, including for admissions to Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) from this year.Officials said the continued pendency could affect students as APAAR-linked documentation becomes increasingly integrated with academic applications and record-keeping.
