‘Consider withdrawal of upper age limits for admissions’

The Delhi high court has directed the Delhi government to consider withdrawing a circular fixing upper age limits for admissions in government schools.

Justice Rajiv Shakdher passed the direction while hearing a petition by a class IX student who was denied admission by a Delhi government school on this ground.

The upper age limit for an admission to class IX is 15 years. The circular issued in April last year fixes the upper age limit for admission of students to various classes in the state government schools.

Granting admission to the petitioner, Jitender Kumar, in Class IX of a government school, the Court directed the Government to file a detailed affidavit within three weeks making its stand clear on the circular and fixed the matter for further hearing on November 16.

Counsel for the petitioner, Ashok Agarwal, submitted that mere relaxation of the upper age limit of the petitioner did not satisfy the petitioner’s case because the issue raised in the petition has a wider implication as hundreds of students had been denied admission on this ground.

One can understand the minimum age for entry to a class but fixing the upper age of a student is totally illogical, arbitrary, anti-child, unconstitutional and violative of the provisions of Delhi School Education Act, 1973,” Agarwal argued.