The Kerala government has made Aadhar cards for RTE admissions mandatory, participation in events and application for scholarship under the Kerala RTE Rules (read more). The government has decided to distribute benefits to children from disadvantaged groups on the basis of a unique identification number. The Kerala State Information Technology Mission (KSITM), along with IT@schools is organizing camps to ensure that ll students obtain Aadhar cards.
As per the Kerala RTE Rules, it is mandatory for every local authority to ensure that an Aadhar card is distributed to every child in order to maintain records. These records must be maintained transparently and must be made available in the public domain. Children’s enrollment, attendance, learning assessment, and transition must be tracked within this system. Schools are also under an obligation to maintain records of unique identification number and other biometric information of all children. In fact, such records also have an impact on the grant of recognition to schools.
It is worth asking the question – will admission be denied to children from disadvantaged backgrounds for the want of a unique identification number? When the state has a duty to ensure completion of elementary education of every child, can the state deny admissions to children who do not possess an Aadhar card? It is also noteworthy that the rules do not mention the Aadhar Card as a document for securing admission to schools. In case a child does not have a birth certificate, the Rules allow the local authorities to consider Hospital/Anganwadi/Mid-Wife/ Auxiliary Nurse register records or an affidavit from the parents.