- As per the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the first five years comprise three years of preschool and two years of Classes 1 and 2 corresponding to the age group of six to eight years
The Centre issued a notice to all States and Union Territories to fix six years as the minimum age for admission to Class 1, in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009. In a letter to all the State governments and the Union Territory administrations, the Ministry of Education (MoE)’s Department of School Education and Literacy reiterated its directions issued several times since the NEP was launched in 2020. A similar notice was issued last year too.
The session 2024-25 would be beginning very soon when new admissions would begin. It has been expected that the age in the particular State/Union Territory has been aligned to 6+ for admission to Grade-I. In March 2022, the Centre informed the Lok Sabha that 14 States and Union Territories, like Assam, Gujarat, Puducherry, Telangana, Ladakh, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Goa, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Kerala, allow Class 1 admission for children who have not completed six years.
The Centre previously mentioned that without aligning with the policy of following the minimum age requirement in accordance with the NEP stipulation could affect the measurement of net enrolment ratios in different States. As per NEP 2020’s 5+3+3+4 school system, the first five years comprise three years of preschool corresponding to the age groups of three to six years and two years of Classes 1 and 2 corresponding to the age group of six to eight years.
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