[ Amar Sangno, Indu Chukhu & Prem Chetry ]
ITANAGAR, 26 May: As the new academic session begins, it’s time for toddlers to head off to school, primary students to move to upper primary, and matriculation students to transition to college.
However, reports from across the state indicate that government and private schools are arbitrarily enforcing Aadhaar card as a mandatory requirement for students seeking new admission, leading to the denial of entry to hundreds of students who do not possess an Aadhaar card.
The enforcement of Aadhaar for new school admission has led to an unprecedented rush at Aadhaar vendors, with students and parents scrambling to get Aadhaar registration in order to secure school admission.
“For new admissions, like nursery to Class 1, students can be registered in the UDISE system without Aadhaar. However, the department advises schools to collect a photocopy of the Aadhaar card during the admission process. This means that students can still get admission without an Aadhaar card up to Class 1,” said a primary trained teacher, who requested anonymity.
When contacted, an official from the Education Department explained that Aadhaar is being sought for new school admission to generate a Permanent Enrolment Number (PEN) under the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) Plus, a database that manages information related to schools, students, and teachers. The UDISE+ platform serves as a central tool to record and submit data about school infrastructure, individual students, and teacher details.
PEN registration is a part of the Centre’s Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR), a unique identification system designed for all students in India. This initiative is aligned with the ‘One Nation, One Student ID’ programme, which was introduced under the National Education Policy of 2020.
Some officials claim that there has been no official order or notification from the Education Department mandating Aadhaar for school admissions. However, principals and teachers have reportedly been instructed verbally or via WhatsApp to ask for Aadhaar cards during the admission process.
“This is really a complex situation for us as teachers. Although no official directive has been issued, we are being verbally instructed to seek Aadhaar for PEN or APAAR, which is considered a mandatory procedure for every student,” said one teacher.
“We can’t deny admission to any student just because they don’t have an Aadhaar card. However, the students will need to submit their basic details for PEN at some point, either today or tomorrow,” the teacher emphasised.
The denial of admission to children based on the lack of an Aadhaar card not only violates the Right to Education (RTE) Act, which guarantees free and compulsory education for children aged 6 to 14 under Article 21 A of the Constitution, but also disregards the Supreme Court’s ruling on 26 September, 2018. The court ruled that Aadhaar is not mandatory for the entitlement to education, including in CBSE, NEET, and UGC exams, as well as for bank and SIM card linking.
Education Minister Passang Dorjee Sona denied any such enforcement from the department. “There is no order from the department in this matter,” he said.
However, Sona did mention that the Ministry of Tribal Affairs issued an office memorandum on 20 February, 2025, stating that the ministry is implementing the centrally sponsored pre-matric scholarship scheme for ST students. The direct benefit transfer (DBT) mission has mandated Aadhaar for scholarship applications. Due to low awareness in rural and tribal areas, many ST students have not applied for Aadhaar, resulting in their exclusion from the pre-matric scholarship scheme.
The memorandum further directed the Department of School Education and Literacy to organise awareness camps at the school level for students, including ST students in Class 9 and 10, to help them apply for and obtain an Aadhaar card.
The Arunachal Times spoke to parents, school authorities, and teachers from both private and government schools. Most of them confirmed that Aadhaar cards are being made mandatory for school admissions.
School managements also informed that, according to new notifications, generating a PEN through the APAAR system is important, which requires parents to submit Aadhaar cards.
In contrast, schools in the ICR and Papum Pare rural areas, such as the Government Middle School, Denka, do not require Aadhaar cards or PEN for admission, specifically benefiting students from the Chakma-inhabited Kokila area.
However, schools like Ramakrishna Mission School, VKVs, Government Middle School Yupia, Lekhi Public School, Alphabet Public School, and Orion International School in Hollongi all require Aadhaar cards for admissions, from nursery to Class 12, to generate PENs.
The authorities of these schools stated that they allow a grace period of one or two months for students to submit their Aadhaar cards.
Biju Sharma, CBSE in-charge of Lekhi Public School, explained that the school admits students even without Aadhaar cards. However, the card becomes mandatory when students transfer to other schools or when they enroll in Class 10.
Yowa Bullet, managing director of Orion International School, stated that his school makes Aadhaar cards mandatory during admission. “We don’t enroll students who don’t have an Aadhaar card, as PEN and APAAR cannot be generated without it,” he said. He added that even Chakma students at his school have Aadhaar cards.
In the Chakma Block 8 area, a school is set to be declared defunct this year due to zero enrollment, with most students from this area now enrolling in private schools. The school representative stated that they admit students even without Aadhaar cards.
Papum Pare DDSE TT Tara confirmed that he has not received any specific directives from the government mandating Aadhaar cards for admission.
In Bomdila, Rinchin Khandu Thongchi, district coordinator for the Management and Information System (MIS) in West Kameng, mentioned that the Aadhaar number of students is requested in the School Data Management System (SDMS) module of the UDISE portal. The APAAR module also requires Aadhaar details.
“In cases a child does not have an Aadhaar card, the parents’ Aadhaar card or the child’s Aadhaar enrolment number can be used for admission,” said a school headmaster. “But we won’t deny admission,” he added.
