One Nation One Data portal will streamline data collection and access: National Board of Accreditation Chairman

Union education ministry proposes One Nation One Data program for higher education institutions to streamline data maintenance and accessibility.

Anil D. Sahasrabudhe, Chairman of the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), on Sunday here said the Union Education Ministry had proposed a programme to simplify maintaining databases at higher educational institutions in the country.

Speaking on the sidelines of Anna University’s 45th convocation, he said: “Under the One Nation One Data (ONOD) programme, which is expected to be rolled out next year, institutions may submit all their data, which will then be accessible to other higher education related agencies.”

Institutions will upload their data to the ONOD portal, from where it will be accessed by the agencies concerned. “If they [agencies] require any additional data not included in the portal, they can specifically ask for it,” Mr. Sahasrabudhe said.

He urged institutions to introduce the Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) ID for students. “In higher educational institutions, 80% of the students were covered under the exercise. Currently, the Ministry is in working to introduce this facility in schools,” Mr. Sahasrabudhe added.

The APAAR ID is unique to every student and authenticated by Aadhaar card in the backend. A candidate’s credits, courses, grades, and even non-curricular programmes are recorded in the database. Employers can use the ID to access these details for any prospective employees. The students will have control over what data they wish to share.

Speaking at the convocation, Mr. Sahasrabudhe urged graduands to become entrepreneurs and create jobs instead of becoming job seekers.

Earlier, K. Gopal, Higher Education Secretary and Chairman,  Anna University Convener Committee, which is managing the institution in the Vice-Chancellor’s absence, presented the annual report. He said 1,15,393 candidates had graduated this year. A total of 436 research scholars, 20,319 postgraduates, and 94,638 undergraduates received their degrees. While 503 received their certificates in person, 1,14,890 received theirs in absentia. A total of 68 candidates — 32 men and 36 women — won gold medals.