Most of you might have, by now, taken part in the 2010 census which will enable your parents and other adults in your family to acquire the Unique Identification Number, an alpha-numeric code that helps identify Indian citizens. Now, schools in Kerala have been bestowed with a similar unique identity in the form of Uniform Unique School Code.
Unique identification
An initiative of the State Institute of Educational Management and Training (SIEMAT)-Kerala, the project involved listing all government, aided and unaided recognised schools in the State, and providing them with unique School Codes.
The project has been implemented in association with Assistant Educational Officers (AEOs) and DIETs (District Institute of Education and Training) in the state. Apart from state syllabus schools, CBSE and ICSE schools as well as national open schools, technical schools, special schools and area-intensive schools have also been included in the list.
The pilot project of the Uniform Unique School Code initiative was implemented in Thiruvananthapuram district and later extended to all districts in the state. The final list of school codes has been published on the SIEMAT-Kerala website: www.siemat.kerala.gov.in
“As of now, a school has different identification code for different schemes. For example a school will have one code for public examinations and another for the noon meal scheme and other schemes. There are also variations in school codes for different divisions of the same school like LP, UP, HS and HSS. Under the Uniform Unique School Codes initiative every school has been given one unique identification code that can be used for all purposes,” said SIEMAT director Johny K. John.
Encoding
The data for preparing the school codes was collected with the help of AEOs in the district. The six digit alpha-numeric code consists of three alphabets and three numbers. The code begins with the letter representing the district in which the school is situated followed by the letter representing the type of management (whether government, aided, unaided, CBSE or ICSE) and the third letter representing the type of school (whether LP, UP, HS, HSS, VHS etc). The three letters will be followed by three digits representing the number of the school code.
The Uniform Unique School Codes are expected to help policy makers and government officials in implementing various educational schemes in schools, like those under the Right to Education Act.
SIEMAT has now requested schools to ensure their school has been included in the list and to verify if their school code follows the stipulated guidelines.
So when you get back to school at the end of yet another summer vacation, don't forget to enquire about your own school's code.