BENGALURU: From the coming academic year, parents cannot admit their children to Class 1 in schools across the state if the wards have not completed 5 years and 10 months of age by June. To get admissions to pre-primary (LKG), the child should have completed 3 years and 10 months by June, according to a new order issued by the Department of Public Instruction.
The department has also withdrawn all the previous government orders and department circulars pertaining to the age of admission.
Speaking to Express, M Anand, Director of the Primary Education Department, said, “There are many cases where parents admit their children to schools even before they complete 5 years. As per the department rules, the children should be 5 years and 10 months old to get admissions. But in most cases, parents would admit their children even before they become eligible to start schooling. Considering this, we issued a revised order withdrawing all the other circulars in this regard issued in the past.”
The revised order will be strictly followed from June 2017 from when the classes for the academic year 2017-18 begin. The department has made it clear that it will not be applicable to those who have already got admissions for the 2016-17 academic year.
“The main intention of making it mandatory to follow the 5 years and 10 months rule is to avoid problems when the child reaches Class 10. There are many such students now in Class 10 who have not even completed 16 years of age. As per Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) norms, a candidate should have completed 16 years to take up SSLC exams,” Anand explained.
According to KSEEB authorities, if a child enters Class 10 before completing 16 years of age, the capacity to grasp the issues will be less and they will find it difficult to crack the board examination.