According to Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty, the minimum age for admission to Class 1 in schools in the state will be five years. While there is a long-standing tradition of enrolling children in the first grade at the age of five, the Central Ministry of Education recently directed all states and Union Territories to fix the minimum age for Class 1 admission to six years in accordance with the National Education Policy, 2020. However, the State of Kerala believes that the Centre has yet to make this mandatory and that the matter can be considered when the Union Government issues a strict direction with respect to the minimum age. As a result, the Kerala General Education Department has decided to maintain the current method followed in the state.
Officials noted that if the minimum age were to be raised to six years all of a sudden, then the number of students joining Class 1 in that year would decrease by over one lakh, potentially leading to long-term consequences. However, the state has a well-established system of Anganwadi and preschool education, and all students are currently joining schools with minimal cases of students leaving the institutions.
Despite the Ministry of Education’s directive, educational institutions in the state, including schools that follow the central syllabus, have already started the admission process for the next academic year, and many have already secured admission for their children who have turned five years old. As the Education Minister stated, ‘Parents who want to register their kids in the first grade at age five will have the chance to do so in the upcoming academic year as well.’
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