Intro
Thousands of parents fear children may lose academic year due to revised admission norms.
CH NEWS
BENGALURU
The Karnataka High Court has directed the School Education Department to reconsider requests seeking relaxation in the minimum age limit for admission to Class 1 for the 2026-27 academic year and issue an appropriate decision within a week.
The vacation bench of Justice S R Krishnakumar passed the order while hearing petitions filed by six students, including Master Krishna Ganesh from Bengaluru, represented by their parents.
The court observed that students and parents were facing difficulties due to the revised age eligibility rules and instructed the department to examine all aspects of the issue before taking a final decision.
During the hearing, counsel for the petitioners argued that the School Education Department had issued an order on March 28 fixing the minimum age criteria for Class 1 admissions. Under the revised norms, children who have not completed six years by the prescribed date would not be eligible for admission.
The petitioners contended that many children had already completed their pre-primary education during the 2025-26 academic year and were academically and socially prepared to move to Class 1. However, due to the revised rule, they may now be forced to repeat UKG, affecting nearly five lakh students across the state.
Parents argued that schools had followed a different admission system for several years, and families had enrolled children in pre-primary education based on the expectation that they would progress to first grade in 2026-27.
The petitioners sought relaxation similar to the previous academic year, allowing admission for children aged five years and five months.
Responding to the submissions, the government counsel informed the court that if granted reasonable time, the department would consider the representations seeking age relaxation and issue necessary orders.
The High Court then directed the authorities to take an appropriate decision within one week.
