Karnataka: Maximum age limit for admission to class 1 fixed at 8 years

The Karnataka government has fixed the maximum age limit for school enrolment as six years for LKG, seven years for UKG, and eight years for class 1. Following its earlier amended order, the State government has started preparations to implement the age limit for enrolling children who have compulsory completed six years for class 1 as on June 1 from the academic year 2025-26.

The Karnataka government has fixed the maximum age limit for school enrolment as six years for LKG, seven years for UKG, and eight years for class 1. Following its earlier amended order, the State government has started preparations to implement the age limit for enrolling children who have compulsory completed six years for class 1 as on June 1 from the academic year 2025-26.

Earlier, the government had fixed only the minimum age limit for enrolment of school children as four years and maximum five years for LKG, UKG, and class 1. The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act-2009 (RTE Act-2009) and the Rules, 2012, prescribes the age limit for enrolling a child to class 1 as having compulsorily completed six years as on June 1. The National Education Policy (NEP-2020) has also mandated that the minimum age limit for admission to class 1 should be six years as on June 1.

Following the Union Education Ministry’s order, the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) made it mandatory from the 2023-24 academic year and issued an order on July 26, 2022, in this regard. However, it created confusion and anxiety among parents, after which the Karnataka government gave a relaxation for two academic years.

An amended order issued by DSEL on November 15, 2022, stating that the six-year age completion rule will be implemented from 2025-26 academic year. According to this rule, the minimum age of a child to be enrolled for LKG is four years, UKG is five years, and class 1 is six years with effect from the academic year 2023-24. However, the maximum age was not fixed.

Now, the DSEL has decided to implement this rules from the next academic year after the Commissioner of Public Instruction had submitted a proposal to the government about the maximum age limit.

“Since the revision of the maximum age limit can also reduce the number of dropout children, it is necessary to relax and revise the maximum age criteria as the minimum age limit has already been fixed for the enrolment of children for LKG, UKG, and class 1,” B.B. Cauvery, Commissioner of Public Instruction, had said in the proposal.

The government approved the proposal, after which it has been ordered that the maximum age limits for admission to LKG, UKG, and class 1, according to which, any child enrolled in LKG at four years in 2023-24 will be eligible for admission to class 1 in 2025-26.