Bengaluru: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has made it mandatory for class 9 and 11 students to enter Aadhaar details during the registration for their board exams. “Aadhaar number field provided in online system is mandatory. Wherever Aadhaar number is not available, enrolment number can be provided,” reads the notification addressed to principals and institution heads of affiliated schools
M. Srinivasan, president, Managements of Independent CBSE Schools’ Association, welcomed the Board’s decision, saying Aadhaar linking will help everyone in the near future. “The benefits of having an individual’s educational qualifications linked with a Unique Identity System will surely come handy tomorrow, if not today. With the school board exams as a starting step, the government should expand it to other centralised exams which will help avoid confusion related to identity,” he said.
He said that no stakeholder in the education system will have a problem with the decision as obtaining an Aadhaar is feasible now. “With even a six-minute old baby successfully enrolling for Aadhar in Maharashtra last week, signing up for Aadhaar card is not at all an issue now,” he said.
A majority of schools in the city had already collected Aadhaar details to update student details from the last academic year.
“As most of the students already have Aadhaar numbers and parents have updated the details on the school software, the Board’s decision will do only good. While all details, including bank accounts, PAN cards and mobile numbers, are being linked to Aadhaar, it will help students get verified educational qualification,” said Ms Manila Carvalho, principal, DPS (East). Similar to the student tracking system initiated by the state government, this move will help CBSE students carry with them all educational records while they move out for higher education.
Parents believe that the system will help them save time and energy in future. “Compiling all necessary documents and certificates from schools often becomes a tiring effort and a greater challenge if we are racing against a strict deadline for some application. This linking will help children get all their information including educational qualifications under one system, at a go,” said Ms Nithyasree S.R., a parent of a ninth grade student from Basavangudi.
