Minimum-age restriction forces at least 5 lakh UKG kids to repeat class

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, April 3, 2025: At least five lakh children in Karnataka who completed Upper Kindergarten (UKG) may have to repeat the class as schools are denying them admission to class 1 in the coming academic year, reasoning that they have not attained 6 years of age by June 1, 2025.

This is due to an order issued by the state Department of School Education and Literacy in the middle of the academic year in 2022, fixing the minimum age for admission to class 1 as 6 years as on June 1. However, the department gave exemption for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years. The order will be effective from the 2025-26 academic year for which classes will commence from June 1.

"By the time the order came in 2022 (one in November another in December), many children born before 2019 were in the kindergarten system, but not completing 6 years by June. To avoid such issues, we urge the government to issue any such orders between March and June," said BN Yogananda, state president of Karnataka Private School Colleges Parents Associations Coordination Committee.

Some of the affected parents said their children are only days or weeks short of completing six years of age and they are denied admission to class 1. "The school where I have enrolled my daughter for kindergarten is not willing to promote her to class 1 citing that she falls short of 12 days to complete six years," said a parent.

According to parents, schools are pressuring them to pay the fee to repeat UKG or take the child out of school. "Minister Madhu Bangarappa recently issued a statement saying the matter was referred to the State Education Policy Commission, but what was he doing for all these months? Will there be seats available at private schools by the time they make a decision?" asked another parent.

Meanwhile, DH accessed a copy of a letter by the principal secretary of the School Education and Literacy Department to the SEP Commission seeking their recommendation regarding fixing the minimum age for admission to class 1. In the letter, Principal Secretary V Rashmi Mahesh mentioned the requests the department received from parents this year requesting age relaxation for their children who were born before 2019 and completed UKG but have not attained the age of six for regular school admissions.

The principal secretary also pointed out that in Montessori and Pre-Montessori/Playschools, the child’s age is not subject to any regulation. "Therefore I have been instructed by the minister for School Education and Literacy to refer this issue to the Commission for SEP as it requires a holistic approach and cannot be isolated from the overall framework of SEP and the approach of the state on this issue be addressed comprehensively and the course of action that the state has to take be delineated through deliberations in Commission for the SEP," she stated.

The principal secretary has also requested the SEP Commission to take up the issue at the earliest as the matter is time sensitive.

Parents have also demanded the government insist schools pause class 1 admissions until the SEP submits its recommendation.