Last Updated IST
The ministry has also asked states to create a database of the school teachers along with their unique identification number.
At least 3.33 lakh children were found to have been enrolled in more than one elementary school in Andhra Pradesh after the state authorities began updating students’ data and linking them with Aadhaar.
Though it was not immediately clear as to what action the Andhra Pradesh government has taken on detection of such irregularity, the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry has asked all states to complete the exercise of updating students’ data and linking them with Aadhaar or any other identification proof to “cleanse” the database this year.
The ministry has also asked states to create a database of the school teachers along with their unique identification number.
The instructions were passed on to states during the project approval board meeting for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan held by the ministry recently.
The states began updating studentwise data of the schools under them linking the students data with their Aadhaar following an instruction from the Centre for developing an online system for collection and storage of the student information system in 2015.
“As the exercise began in Andhra Pradesh, the state authorities found that about 3.33 lakh students were enrolled in more than one school.
The duplicate names were removed from the database. This resulted in a significant decline in the enrolment figures of the state for all types of schools, including private and unaided schools,” official sources told DH.
Several other states have reported a decline in the enrolment of students in government and government-aided schools.
“This may be a trend due to several factors, including parents preferring to admit their wards at private schools or shifting them from government schools to private schools. But the possibility of fudging of the enrolment data at school levels can’t be denied,” official sources said.
Though it was not immediately clear as to what action the Andhra Pradesh government has taken on detection of such irregularity, the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry has asked all states to complete the exercise of updating students’ data and linking them with Aadhaar or any other identification proof to “cleanse” the database this year.
The ministry has also asked states to create a database of the school teachers along with their unique identification number.
The instructions were passed on to states during the project approval board meeting for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan held by the ministry recently.
The states began updating studentwise data of the schools under them linking the students data with their Aadhaar following an instruction from the Centre for developing an online system for collection and storage of the student information system in 2015.
“As the exercise began in Andhra Pradesh, the state authorities found that about 3.33 lakh students were enrolled in more than one school.
The duplicate names were removed from the database. This resulted in a significant decline in the enrolment figures of the state for all types of schools, including private and unaided schools,” official sources told DH.
Several other states have reported a decline in the enrolment of students in government and government-aided schools.
“This may be a trend due to several factors, including parents preferring to admit their wards at private schools or shifting them from government schools to private schools. But the possibility of fudging of the enrolment data at school levels can’t be denied,” official sources said.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks