The new rule issued by the Central Board of Secondary Education of India (CBSE) has created concern among Indian migrant students and their parents in the UAE. Some schools have asked for Aadhaar card numbers from students to create a new compulsory identity card (APAAR ID).

CBSE made it mandatory earlier this month that students would have to submit their APAAR IDs while registering for the board examination of class 10 and 12.

What is APAAR ID?

The full name of Apaar is Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry. It is an identity number that is associated with the student’s enrollment and helps track the student’s pre-educational education journey, as proposed in India’s new education policy (NEP 2020).

The Ministry of Education of India has now made it mandatory for all school students to adopt APAAR ID, so that it can be implemented as part of Digital Public Infrastructure for Education. Although this identification number was proposed to all students, CBSE has currently made it mandatory for students appearing in the board examination since 2026. Earlier, the board had sought details of students in classes 9 and 11 from schools to list for classes 10 and 12. Now registration with APAAR ID is mandatory for board examination.

Why Aadhar Card required?

Although Aadhaar is still optional, some government benefits, subsidy, PAN card linking and banking services are necessary. To create APAAR ID, students have to give information like name, age, date of birth, gender, photo and Aadhaar number.

In India, there has been a debate over the need to link Aadhaar in terms of data security and privacy, but the situation in the UAE is different. Most Indian migrant students do not have an Aadhaar card, as Aadhaar is not mandatory for NRIs. Aadhaar card is also not made for foreign students, as it is issued only to Indian citizens.

What’s happening in UAE?

Some schools suddenly said that for the students appearing in the board examination next year, it is necessary to give Aadhaar number to create APAAR ID, which created tension and trouble among many students and parents.

A parent said that “Our school only informed us after the summer holidays that Aadhaar was necessary. Our families were in India, and then the base process could be completed easily. Now it is not practical to go to India only for this process.”

However, some schools such as International Indian School, Abu Dhabi prepared students with all the necessary documents in advance. The school’s principal Dr. Benno Kurien said that CBSE had already organized several circular and interactive sessions.

At the same time, some schools like Gulf Asian English School, Sharma are currently waiting for further instructions of CBSE. Most of their students do not have Aadhaar and have many foreign nationals. Principal Dr. Nasreen Banu said, “The next step will be decided only after discussion with our regional director. We are confident that CBSE will accept students’ passport number and other documents.”

What does CBSE say?

Dr. Ram Shankar, director of Dubai Office of CBSE, said that the situation in the case of foreign schools will remain the same. CBSE schools do not yet need to take any action for the APAAR ID. Necessary instructions and guidance will be issued soon.