The limitations placed on word count and format to provide feedback on the Education Ministry’s proposal for creating digital registries for education data, have restricted people from sending detailed inputs on different aspects of the paper. The brief responses to the proposed framework submitted through a Google form, and reviewed by MediaNama, indicate the inefficacy of the consultation process altogether. What was the consultation about? The Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSEL) released a consultation paper in April outlining a plan for creating an ‘Education Ecosystem Registry’ (EER) to provide a unified system for stakeholders to track learner outcomes and inform policy-making processes in the education sector. In the paper, the National Education Technology Forum (NETF) pitched for the creation of interoperable registries—which can be accessed and reused reciprocally—for schools, colleges, universities, teachers, educators, and administrators. Essentially, the stated objective is to unify the existing siloed education databases, and enable decentralized management to tackle challenges like access, record-keeping, tracking academic journey, authentication, etc., in the education sector. Read a detailed summary of the project here. Why it matters: The EER paper lays out the initial design and architecture of what an electronic registry system for education and skilling may look like. A consultation process enables people to present their views and concerns, and make recommendations on government initiatives. It is imperative for the government to ensure that the scope of such deliberation is not limited. Feedback constraints: According to the website of the Department of School Education & Literacy…
