Delay in class I age policy may hurt government school students

Telangana’s delay in fixing the Class I admission age may disadvantage government school students in future competitive exams. While private schools admit children at six, government schools still follow a five-year norm, raising eligibility concerns.

Hyderabad: Students, particularly those studying in the government and local body schools, may have to pay the heavy price due to the State government’s inordinate delay in deciding the age criterion for Class I.

While the private schools, falling in line with the Central government directive, have been admitting students to Class I at six years, the government schools continue the five-year age norm.

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Although there is no immediate issue, students who start their Class I early are expected to face problems with regard to age criteria to sit for competitive exams in the future.

Presently, the minimum age to appear for NEET UG and JEE Advanced is 17 years. If future age criteria are aligned with the six-year Class I entry rule, students from the government schools might end up one year shorter than the prescribed minimum age. They may be either forced to repeat a Class or wait an additional year to appear for these exams.

“As all government schools do not have pre-primary sections, parents directly enrol their wards to Class I at the age of 5 or 5 ½ years, leaving scope for minimum age eligibility issue in future. On the other hand, private schools that have pre-primary sections adopted a six-year age Class I admission policy,” Education department official sources said.

Telangana records around five lakh admissions at Class I every year. Of these, more than 3.5 lakh children enroll in private schools, while about 1.3 to 1.5 lakh join government schools. By the time students reach Class X, nearly five lakh appear for board examinations annually.

Despite the Central government reminding Telangana to align the age of Class I entry to six years in line with the National Education Policy 2020 over the past two years, the State government has not announced a clear policy.