New age criteria for KV admission: 'Can't have two kinds of schools for same edu'

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday said that there cannot be two sets of schools — one mandating six years as the minimum age for applying for class 1 and others requiring five years — in the city for the same education.

Justice Rekha Palli, who was hearing petitions challenging the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan's decision setting six years as the minimum age for admission to class 1 in Kendriya Vidyalayas in the upcoming academic year, observed that while it was not interfering with the national education policy (NEP), having two different age criteria for class 1 admission would lead to an anomalous situation .

It (KV) is a school like any other school. Centre can't say that just because I'm running this school, I'll go dehors, the court said.

In Delhi, you can't have two kinds of schools giving the same education. We can't have this type of disparity in NCT. You (Centre) have to work (it) out and apply your mind, the court added. Delhi government counsel told the court that the age criteria for admission to class 1 in its schools was still five years and it has nothing to do with KVs.

The counsel for the Centre, Apoorv Kurup, said that the new age eligibility was in terms of the NEP which was made to overcome this disparity and that it wrote to the State authorities to adopt the same.

The Centre is trying to get everyone to the six-plus age requirement and 21 States and Union Territories are already following it, the lawyer said.

The court stated that just because the Delhi government has not adopted the NEP, why should parents and children suffer . The court will not get into education policy. (But) you have to take proactive steps for (bringing) uniformity, it further said.

The court also asked the respondents if they gave advance notice to the stakeholders that there would be a change in the admission criteria for class 1 in terms of the NEP which came into existence in 2020.

Did you follow the NEP 2021? Was there any public notice that you will follow this year? The policy is there since 2020..should have given some public notice, the court stated.

Justice Palli permitted counsel for the central government and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) to file on record relevant documents on the issue and said that she would pass a reasoned order on the issue on granting interim relief to the petitioners. Lawyer Ashok Agarwal, appearing for one of the petitioners, said that the KVS suddenly changed the age criteria which took the parents by surprise, and at least a year's notice should have been given.

KVS had earlier told the court that the age criteria were updated in strict compliance with the 2020 National Education Policy which was issued by the Centre on July 9, 2020.