The central government-run Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) has changed the age criterion for admission to Class I from five-plus to six-plus from the coming academic session, raising the prospect of thousands of students missing out on the opportunity of receiving quality and affordable education.

The change in policy has also triggered the possibility of many KV seats remaining vacant as those who had taken admission to Class I in schools across the country at the age of five-plus last year will now progress to Class II.

According to guidelines issued by the KVS last month, a child must be six years old on March 31, 2022, to be able to get admission in Class I for the 2022-23 academic session. Till last year, children completing five years on March 31 of that year were eligible for admission.

The monthly fees at the KVs are between Rs 600 and Rs 900 for boys, depending on the class, while education is free for girls. The 1,250 KVs across the country take in one lakh students every year.

The KVS attributed the change in the criterion to the age slabs prescribed in the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020.

According to the NEP, a child will pursue five years of foundational learning, including three years of pre-schooling devoted to early childhood care and education (ECCE). The duration of the ECCE

is two years now. A child is admitted to ECCE classes like LKG at the age of three-plus. A KVS official said the change in the admission criterion for Class I had been implemented to match the NEP guidelines.

Aarin, a five-year-old girl in the capital, has moved Delhi High Court challenging the KVS policy, which has denied her the opportunity to seek admission in Class I this year. Her father, who did not wish to be identified, said Aarin had already received LKG and UKG education and the family wanted to put her in a KV.

“If she does not get admission this year and I ask her to sit at home for one year, the child will forget whatever she has learnt. This is in a way denial of her right to education,” her father said.

“If the six-plus policy is to be implemented, the admission cut-off year for nursery should be changed first. It should not be introduced at Class I level,” he added.

Another parent in Calcutta said his daughter Agnija was excited to go to school but he would not be able to afford the fees at private institutions.

“The KVs offer quality education. We have one child. The change in the policy is not well thought out. It should be withdrawn,” he said.

Ashok Agrawal, an educationist and lawyer who is representing Aarin in Delhi High Court, said the Right to Education Act and Article 21 of the Constitution mandated that education was the right of every child aged six to 14 years. The Delhi Education Establishment Act provides for admission to Class I at the age of five-plus.

A committee headed by then CBSE chairman Ashok Ganguly had in 2007 studied the cut-off date and appropriate age for admission. The committee had suggested five-plus as on March 31 of a particular year as the admission age for Class I.

“The high court has accepted the recommendation of the Ganguly committee. After the RTE Act was enacted, the age criterion was continued. But now the KVS wants to change it, citing the NEP,” Agrawal said.

The matter came up for hearing on Tuesday. The court issued notice to the KVS and the Centre for their response before the next hearing on Thursday.

A KV teacher said the majority of the one lakh seats in Class I would remain vacant because of the shift in policy.

“Those who will turn six on March 31 have already taken admission in 2021-22 in different schools. There will be very few takers for admission in KVs if the age criterion is not changed,” the teacher said.