From 2011, educational degrees a click away for students

Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal Tuesday announced that students of schools, technical colleges and universities will be able to get their certificates through a centralized online pool -- for a fee.

All school boards, technical colleges and universities will deposit their educational degrees in a centralised online "depository", he told a news conference here.
"From the depository, students can get their certificates online by paying a nominal fee. They can get a printout of their degrees from home. This will help students, who otherwise have to run around for it," Sibal said.

If an employer wants to see whether documents furnished by a candidate are genuine or not, it can contact the depository and verify it by paying a nominal fee, Sibal added.
He said this would also eliminate the need for people to approach educational institutions for verification of such degrees. It will also reduce the need for institutions to preserve records related to academic performance of students over a long time.
"The system will also reduce the scourge of fake certificates. The system would ensure authenticity, fidelity and enabling online verification," Sibal added.

The minister said he had set up a task force comprising IIT-Kanpur director Sanjay Dhande, IIT-Kozhikode director Debashis Chatterjee, All-India Council for Technical Education chairman S.S. Mantha, UGC vice-chairman Ved Prakash, Central Board of Secondary Education chairman Veneet Joshi, a joint secretary of department of financial services, and some senior officials from the HRD ministry.
The task force will submit a road map by March 31 this year. "We will bring a legislation to implement it compulsorily," Sibal added.

The system would be put in place by next year.
"Holding of academic qualification in an electronic depository provides immense benefits to educational institutions, students, alumni and employers by enabling online access of academic qualifications," he said.

"The system will be user friendly. Students, educational institutions and employers all will get safety against forgery."  
The minister said the two depositories - National Security Depository Ltd (NSDL) and Central Depository Services (India) Ltd (CDSL) - are registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. A final decision on with whom the agreement will be signed will be taken soon.

"It will be deposited like your share certificates. You can access it from home, office and there will be no tension of losing or displacing the certificates," the minister added.