Kerala Education Minister signals rethink on Aadhaar rule in school admissions

Kerala Minister for Education N. Samsudheen has said that the mandatory Aadhaar card-based headcount of students on the sixth working day of every academic year, which has led to denial of admission especially for migrant children, will be revisited and alternative measures explored.

He was responding to a report in The Hindu on how many migrant children in Ernakulam district were denied admission for want of Aadhaar cards at the start of this academic year. Of the 126 migrant children identified by the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development (CMID), mostly from Assam and West Bengal and settled in migrant-dense areas such as Perumbavur, Muvattupuzha, and Kothamangalam, 88 were denied admission in this manner.

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Samsudheen said similar incidents had come to the notice of the Education department from other districts as well. “The norm making Aadhaar card mandatory was not set by this government. It was enforced as a possible solution to prevent the same children being enrolled in different schools to inflate student numbers. We will revisit it and explore alternative ways,” he said.

CMID has also written to Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan demanding relaxation of the Aadhaar-based norm in the case of migrant children, citing The Hindu report and the directive of the Ernakulam Deputy Director of Education to Assistant Educational Officers in its wake to ensure that no student is denied admission for want of Aadhaar, as it violates the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), which mandates free elementary education for all children aged 6 to 14. The absence of a Unique Identification (UID) number also renders them ineligible for benefits such as free textbooks and uniforms.

“As per the State Planning Board’s estimates, there are around one lakh migrant children in Kerala. Considering the decline in the number of local students due to demographic reasons, these migrant children play a critical role in retaining teacher vacancies in government and aided schools and in the survival of schools themselves,” the letter pointed out.

Unlike in Kerala, the majority of migrant children do not have UID numbers. Their birth certificates were either not brought to Kerala or, in many cases, do not exist due to home births. Since many of their parents lack identification documents, these children face limitations in enrolling for UID. Hence, the UID-based norm should be relaxed in their case, and directions issued to authorities to provide them with benefits such as free textbooks, uniforms, and mid-day meals in proportion to their numbers, the letter concluded.