'Aadhaar ID cards NOT mandatory for Indian pupils in Oman'

Energy Tuesday 11/April/2017 22:00 PM
By: Times News Service
'Aadhaar ID cards NOT mandatory for Indian pupils in Oman'

Muscat: Aadhaar cards are not mandatory for Class X and XII Indian students in Oman appearing for exams this year, a senior official from the Indian embassy in Muscat said.
Read also: NRIs are not entitled to have Aadhaar, says Indian embassy in Oman
“It is optional. We contacted the Central Board of School Examination (CBSE) officials in India. They have referred us to a CBSE circular issued in September 2016. It says that Aadhaar card is optional,” the embassy official said.
Following a report published in an English daily, stating that Aadhaar cards are mandatory for Class X and XII Indian students, Indian parents were led to believe that they would face flying to India to obtain Aadhaar cards for their children to sit exams in Oman.
The news report cited a circular issued by Indian School Muscat and quoted an official from the Indian School Board anonymously.
The ISM’s circular (http://ismoman.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/CIRCULAR-05041700.pdf) asks all students of Class IX to XII to get an Aadhaar Card, which will be required for online registration for board exams.
The notice reads that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has made an Aadhaar number mandatory for Class IX to XII online registration which will be done in August/September 2017.
“Parents are expected to enrol their wards for the Aadhaar registration process during the forthcoming summer holidays or earlier and get an Aadhaar number. Parents of students studying in other classes also can do the Aadhaar registration for their wards during the next summer holidays,” the circular stated.
However, the government of India CBSE circular (http://cbse.nic.in/attach/2017%20Regn%20circular.pdf) which details online registration rules states that Aadhar card is only optional.
“Aadhaar number field provided in the system is optional (not mandatory),” the circular reads.