The Centre has issued a notice to all states and Union Territories to fix six years as the minimum age for admission to Class 1, in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009.

In a letter to the state governments and the Union Territory administrations, the Ministry of Education's (MoE) Department of School Education and Literacy has reiterated its directions issued several times since the NEP was launched in 2020. A similar notice was issued last year, too.

“The session 2024-25 is soon to begin when new admissions will take place. It is expected that the age in your State/UT has now been aligned to 6+ for admission to Grade-I, accordingly,” the ministry said in its letter dated February 15.

In March 2022, the Centre informed the Lok Sabha that 14 states and Union Territories allow admission to children in Class 1 who have not completed six years. These states and Union Territories include Assam, Gujarat, Puducherry, Telangana, Ladakh, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Goa, Jharkhand, Karnataka, and Kerala.

The Centre has previously stated that not aligning the minimum age with the NEP stipulation affects the measurement of net enrolment ratios in different states.  Under NEP 2020’s 5+3+3+4 school system, the first five years comprise three years of preschool for children aged three to six years and two years of Classes 1 and 2 for children aged six to eight.