Amidst representations to the state’s education department to relax the age criteria for admission into schools, private school managements have urged that the existing rules continue.

In Karnataka, the regulations have it that the child must have completed 6 years of age to be eligible for admission into grade 1 according to a government order issued in 2018. This discussion has sparked a debate yet again.

Last month, the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) wrote to education minister Madhu Bangarappa seeking clarity on the admission of students citing that parents had approached the commission seeking intervention.

However, the Associated Management of Private Schools in Karnataka (KAMS) has alleged that there is a strong lobby at play under the garb of parents and has requested the government to keep the existing norms.

In a letter addressed to chief secretary of the state, Shalini Rajaneesh, KAMS said, “The policy (for age limit) is firmly grounded in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 and in most State Boards and other Boards of fourteen states and union territories, including Assam, Gujarat, Puducherry, Telangana, Ladakh, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Goa, Jharkhand, Karnataka, and Kerala and are partly/fully aligned with the vision of National Education Policy.”

They also said that it will not just be unfair for students and parents who have sought admission as per prescribed norms but also allow private schools to find loopholes for early admissions go scot-free.

“Many children previously ineligible due to age were held back or re-admitted in pre-primary classes to ensure they would only join Class 1 upon turning six, as required (KAMS rejects proposal to relax Class 1 age limit). This transition was not easy, but most schools and parents abided by the rule in the larger interest of aligning with the law and improving educational outcomes,” they said.

D Shashi Kumar, general secretary, KAMS also explained that if the age limit is relaxed, discrepancies will arise between the state’s data tracking Student Achievement Tracking System (SATS) and Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+) which works on an assumption that all children must be of age 6 when they enter grade 1.