Telangana yet to decide on Class I age rule despite Centre’s six-year mandate

Confusion continues over Class I admissions in Telangana as the State government has yet to decide whether to retain the existing five-year minimum age or adopt the Centre’s six-year mandate under NEP 2020. While CBSE, ICSE, and IB schools have already implemented the six-year norm, State board schools continue with five years, leading to non-uniform practices.

Hyderabad: Uncertainty continues to prevail over the age criterion for Class I admissions in schools across Telangana, owing to the State government’s indecision on whether to continue the existing five-year minimum age requirement or adopt the Centre’s six-year mandate.

The Union Ministry of Education had recently issued a fresh reminder to the State government, instructing it to adhere to the six-year minimum age for class I.

---

While most of the States and UTs have already implemented this norm in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, Telangana along with Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, are yet to fully transition.

Under the NEP 2020 framework, the Central government introduced a 5-3-3-4 education structure, designating the first five years as the ‘Foundational Stage’, comprising three years of pre-primary education followed by Class I and II.

To align with this, the Centre mandated on February 9, 2023, that children must be at least six years old to enter class I. Currently, Telangana continues to follow the traditional 10-2-3 structure.

On its part, the Telangana Education Commission has already recommended that the government adopt the six-year threshold for Class I admission.

The Commission’s proposed roadmap suggests admitting children above three years into Nursery, those above four into LKG, above five years into UKG and those aged six or older into Class I. However, the State government has not taken a decision yet.

This indecision has already resulted in non-uniform admission practice in schools. While private schools affiliated to the CBSE, ICSE, and IB are following the six-year norm for the Class I admission, the State board schools are continuing the existing five years norm.

Not following the common age criteria, according to the Education department officials, could cause eligibility issues for Telangana students, if the minimum age criterion is changed for competitive examinations such as NEET, JEE Advanced and NDA among others in future.

Further, if the State continues the existing practice, students, particularly whose parents have transferable jobs, will face issues in inter-state mobility when they move to a different State. Such students might be forced to repeat a class to align their age with prescribed Class level in tune with the NEP 2020 education structure.

Speaking to ‘Telangana Today‘, an Education department official said the seven-member committee constituted by the State government to formulate Telangana Education Policy was looking into the issue.