Top Stocks to Watch on Monday, July 28: TCS, SAIL, BEML, IDFC First Bank & Others in Focus
Stocks to Watch: Shares of several companies will remain in focus on Monday (July 28) including TCS, Tata Chemicals, BEML, SAIL, IDFC First Bank, etc.
UDISE+ and SARAL Portals Merged to Ease Administrative Burden on Maharashtra Schools
In a major step to streamline school administration, the Union Government’s UDISE+ (Unified District Information System for Education Plus) portal has been integrated with Maharashtra's SARAL (Systematic Administrative Reforms for Achieving Learning by Students) portal for the 2025 academic year. This move is expected to significantly reduce non-teaching tasks for school staff, allowing educators to dedicate more time to teaching.
A circular issued on July 18 by Sanjay Yadav, State Project Director of the Maharashtra Prathmik Shikshan Parishad, confirmed that data uploaded on the UDISE+ portal will now be automatically included in the SARAL portal. This integration will also help ensure that no student is left out of the school system. Schools must complete the data entry process by September 30.
As part of the new system, schools are required to update basic details such as the principal's name, contact information, and school location, including longitude and latitude. They must also provide details of infrastructure facilities like the school building, gender-specific washrooms, drinking water, playgrounds, libraries, electricity, boundary walls, computers, and science labs.
The portal will also collect comprehensive student data for classes 2 to 12, including information on students benefiting from schemes like free uniforms, textbooks, scholarships, 25% RTE admissions, and support for disabled students.
A principal of a Pune Municipal Corporation-run school, speaking anonymously to The Indian Express, welcomed the portal merger, saying, “This will reduce workload for principals and teachers. But the government should further cut down on online tasks like DBT updates, VSK Chatbot entries, daily attendance, and midday meal logging, which interfere with teaching time.”
The circular also revealed that 95% of students from the previous academic year had their Aadhar numbers registered, and schools must now validate Aadhar details for newly enrolled students. Additionally, 86% of students had registered for the APAAR ID. Schools are instructed to seek parental permission for APAAR registration for those still unregistered.
It's important to note that APAAR (Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry) is not mandatory. As stated on its official site, “APAAR is not mandatory. While it enhances academic tracking and flexibility, students and institutions can choose whether to participate.”
On the teachers' front, 93% have completed Aadhar validation, and those facing issues should ensure their details are consistent across records. Educational qualifications such as D.Ed, B.Ed, M.Ed, and other relevant credentials must also be accurately recorded in the portal.
This unified approach marks a significant shift towards efficient data management and reduced administrative pressure in the state’s education sector.
