India's Union government plans to roll out its One Nation One Student ID initiative across the country's entire education system by 2027. The central data repository, a data management platform, will start operation in February this year. Some 20 million higher-education students have already received their Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry ID (APAAR ID), which is to be used on the platform. Students at the other levels of education should be onboarded within the next three years.

The APAAR ID, according to the country's 2020 National Education Policy (NEP), is to serve as an ID throughout a student's education journey, from pre-nursery to university. 

The One Nation One Student ID initiative is expected to act as a catalyst for a well-functioning education ecosystem, ensuring a structured approach is taken in the collection and storage of academic records, engendering the appropriate integration of those records collected from the varying sources, and certifying the data collected. It will also be a one-stop shop for accrediting, ranking, and similar bodies. 

All student records will be uploaded to the platform, and by 2026-2027, academic admissions for all schools will be processed on the management platform.

Why does it matter?

The initiative places India closer to achieving SDG 4 regarding equal access to quality education. But more importantly, it offers a solution to existing management issues within the education system, including the duplication of effort.