After the driver’s license, the student card must also be digital in 2024. The so-called edu.digicard must then not only serve as proof of identity, but also be suitable for borrowing books from the school library. Cooperation with transport associations is also being considered.
Education Minister Martin Polaschek and State Secretary for Digitization Florian Tursky (both ÖVP) presented the pilot test for the digital student card in a Viennese school on Friday. Until June 2023, a maximum of 130 pilot schools with approximately 65,000 students can participate in the pilot project. In order to use the edu.digicard voluntarily, they must register with their mobile phone signature or ID Austria and an identity card in the mobile app of the same name.
Education Minister Polaschek called the digital student card the “next milestone in the digitization of our school system”. After equipping the students with cheap laptops and tablets and introducing the new compulsory subject “digital basic education” from the 5th grade, the school administration must become step by step not only faster but also leaner through digitization, which also calls into question bureaucratic processes to set.
According to Tursky, more than 90 percent of all young people have a smartphone and would also use it as a driver’s license. It therefore makes sense to also offer the student card digitally. As before, it can be used as proof of age, for free travel for schoolchildren or to get discounts.
“logical step”
The digital student card is also a logical step for federal school spokeswoman Flora Schmudermayer of the ÖVP-affiliated student union. Young people already pay digitally and store their driver’s license on their mobile phone, and unlike the current plastic card, the app also ensures that forgetting and losing your student card is no longer a problem. By setting up the edu-digicard together with trained teachers, the students would also become acquainted with e-government.
After the first political phase, the digital student ID should be accessible to all high school students from September, Tursky said. At the same time, the pilot phase will start for 10 to 14 year olds, who will need parental consent to use the app. The pilot test is still being carried out with a separate app. After the evaluation, the digital student card must be transferred to the federal government’s eID app in 2024.
Further digitizations planned
The digital student ID is the second digital ID after the digital driver’s license. Since its launch a few months ago, it has been downloaded 200,000 times. The digital proof of admission and the digital proof of age and identity will follow later this year and work will continue on the digital student card. Austria is “at the forefront” of these technical developments, Tursky emphasized, who also sees that Austria is “not so badly positioned” when it comes to digitizing schools.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
