BENGALURU: The Karnataka government on Wednesday issued orders relaxing the age limit for children enrolling in Class 1 from six years to 5.5 years for the 2025-26 academic year. The rule, applicable only for this academic year for all schools under state board, comes after multiple requests from parents and a detailed review by the State Education Policy (SEP) Commission, announced School Education and Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa on Wednesday.
As per the current rule under the Right To Education (RTE) and Karnataka Compulsory Education Rules, children must have completed six years as of June 1 to be admitted in Class 1. These rules were also in line with the National Education Policy (NEP). However, many parents whose children have completed pre-primary schooling requested that the age be relaxed to 5.5 years, as their children are ready to move to Class 1.
The SEP Commission maintained that the minimum age of six is ideal and several court rulings too have upheld these standards. The policies should be changed on individual cases. Still, keeping in mind the educational interest of children who have already completed pre-primary, the department has allowed a one-time exception. Only this year, children who have completed 5.5 years by June 1 and have completed UKG will be allowed to enrol in Class 1.
From 2026-27 academic year the age criteria will be back to six years. Four years will be the minimum age for LKG and five years for UKG admissions, the minister said.
The state government first revised the minimum age for Class 1 from 5.5 years to six in July 2022, stating that it is in line with RTE and NEP. At that time, 21 other states had already implemented the six-year rule. But the decision triggered a protest from some schools and parents as the admissions were already completed.
The school education department then issued a fresh notification in November 2022 deferring the rule to 2025-26, giving sufficient time for children in LKG and UKG to transition. But the children who had enrolled in nursery school in 2022-23 -- mostly in private schools, as such classes are not common in government schools – would still fall short of the age cutoff by 2025-26.
Their parents appealed to the department citing financial and emotional distress as children were compelled to repeat a year despite completing pre-primary education.
The Association of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka (KAMS) objected to the state government relaxing the age norm and submitted an appeal to the chief secretary, listing the problems of making children appear in classes before the required age limit.
The appeal questions the scientific and legal integrity associated with the decision including the cognitive, emotional and social compliance of the children being matured at the age of six and comprehending rules as per RTE admission criteria and Student Achievement Tracking System (SATS) data. KAMS general secretary D Shashikumar said this will reverse the progress made under NEP and set a poor precedent.