Telangana school students’ to get unique PEN

The PEN comprising details like name, date of birth, gender and study details will aid officials to track students’ even if they migrate to different schools in the State or elsewhere in the country.

Hyderabad: School students will now get a unique PEN (Permanent Education Number), which will stay along with them till completion of their education.

Starting this academic year i.e., 2023-24, students will be given an 11-digit PEN, which will act as reference number at different learning stages including pre-primary, primary, secondary, senior secondary, graduate, post-graduate, research and up-skilling as well.

The PEN comprising details like name, date of birth, gender and study details will aid officials to track students’ even if they migrate to different schools in the State or elsewhere in the country. Apart from admission, the PEN according to officials, can also be used for scholarship, examination, employment etc.

“The PEN, which is different from the Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR), will help officials to track students irrespective of place of study in the country. It will also aid in identifying the drop outs and enroll them back into schools,” a senior official said.

To begin with the PEN will be printed on the SSC hall tickets and memos from the academic year 2023-24 for students under all managements in the State. This unique number will be in addition to the hall ticket number that comes in the hall tickets and memos.

An order permitting the School Education department to print PEN on SSC hall tickets and memos was issued by Education department Secretary Vakati Karuna on Wednesday.

Apart from the admission and attendance registers, recording of the student PEN in transfer certificate or record sheet from pre-primary to Class XII has been made mandatory from the current academic year. This move will ensure that schools become aware of the importance of coverage and updation of the student details on the UDISE Portal.