Why 60-day grace period fails to quiet Karnataka’s ‘Class 1 age’ storm

The Karnataka government has announced a 60-day (two months) relaxation in the age eligibility parameter for children for admissions in Class 1 starting from the 2026-27 academic year, making those aged five years and 10 months (as of June 1) eligible for enrolment.

This was done to assure parents who are worried that their wards would lose vital academic time and add to the financial burden, but the guardian community is still not convinced. They now want the government to make five-and-a-half years the cut-off age for Class 1 admissions, as it was last year.

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It is feared that giving a relaxation of only 60 days would see four lakh children remaining deprived of admissions, while it would help only a lakh.

Child must be six years for Class 1

According to the National Education Policy (NEP), a child must be six years old by June 1 of the admission year to join Class 1. In Karnataka, which also changed its age law, a five-and-a-half-year age cut-off rule was followed over the decades, as said earlier.

When this practice was discontinued, many parents were left confused. Under the six-year rule, if a child successfully completes LKG (lower kindergarten) and UKG (upper kindergarten), if he/she doesn’t attain the age of six years within a few days of June, he/she would have to inevitably repeat UKG. This did not help the child in terms of mental stress and also made it financially inconvenient for the parents.

The 60-day relaxation has not removed the fear altogether.

Chandrakala B, one of the complaining parents, told The Federal that while the 60-day relaxation is good, it would still help a lakh children.

“It is unfair to children who are two-and-a-half to three months away from completing their sixth year,” she said.

Many others like her also accused the government of discriminating to please a certain section of parents.

Former teacher questions govt decision

Even academics are not impressed.

T Ravi Kumar, a retired teacher, said the previous age limit was correct and increasing it to six years has hurt the future of lakhs of children. Appreciating the 60-day relaxation rule, he spoke in favour of relaxing it by another 30 days.

“This will facilitate the admission of lakhs of children in the first grade,” he told this website.

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Ravi Kumar also claimed that technical glitches in enrolment in the pre-primary level are another problem that needs to be fixed so that lakhs of children and their families do not suffer.

Dissatisfied parents have also started a movement on digital platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook and X. Efforts are also being made to put pressure on the government through tags such as “Reduce the age limit to 5.5 years” and unite parents across the state to put pressure on the state government to bring down the cut-off age further.

Child rights body also intervenes

The Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has also intervened and recommended that the state education department increase the relaxation to at least three months. It will resolve problems of more than 2.3 lakh children, it said.

The Opposition has also spoken out. Arvind Bellad, a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA, recently warned in the state Assembly that the matter should not become an annual problem. Parents should not be forced to take to the streets every year. He demanded that this be made a permanent law and the state Education Act should be amended to bring permanent relaxation in the age limit.

“There have been words that the government is keeping quiet by giving only 60 days of relaxation, which is dangerous for the future of 4 lakh children. Considering that the academic year 2026-27 is a special transitional year, it is appropriate to provide a relaxation of at least 3 to 5 months. An age limit should be fixed after discussing with education experts, parents and teachers. There have been demands for an immediate amendment to the Education Act to avoid confusion every year and remove the uncertainty among parents,” he said in the recent Budget session.

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A massive protest was also staged by the parents last year, following which the government gave a temporary relief by relaxing the cut-off age by two months (from six to 5.10 months) on humanitarian grounds.

The concerns have resurfaced this year.

As per statistics, more than 2.3 lakh children across the state would not turn six on June 1 this year and miss the criterion by just a few days or a maximum of 90 days. Their parents have been expressing their concerns over their matter and made repeated pleas, due to which the government gave a 60-day relaxation.

(This article was originally published in The Federal Karnataka.)