Bombay HC dismisses petition challenging age criteria for admission to primary school
The petitioners had moved HC after their wards were refused admission to Class 1 for not fulfilling the cut-off age norm. The children were younger than the cut-off age by 22 days and two months
The Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court (HC) has dismissed a petition challenging the 2015 decision of the Maharashtra government allowing only six-year-old children to be admitted to Class 1.
“This is a matter of policy and this court cannot sit in appeal over the policy decision taken by the state of Maharashtra,” said the two-member division bench, comprising Justices Ravi Deshpande and Pushpa Ganediwala, while dismissing a petition filed by two Nagpur residents challenging the validity of the government resolution (GR) issued by the state school education department on January 23, 2015.
Under a GR issued by the department in June 2010, the norms for admission to Class 1 students was on completion of five years of age.
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However, the January 2015 GR increased the cut-off age by a year and allowed the children, who have completed six years on September 30 in that year, to be admitted to Class 1. It also empowered head masters to condone a deficiency of up to 15 days.
The petitioners had moved HC after their wards were refused admission to Class 1 for not fulfilling the cut-off age norm. The children were younger than the cut-off age by 22 days and two months.
They petitioners that their children would stand to lose an academic year because they failed to meet the cut-off age by a few days.
They assailed the January 2015 GR contending that the cut-off age norm fixed under it was unreasonable and arbitrary.
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They cited the examples of other states and also schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), where admission is allowed to Class 1 students on completion of five years of age.
HC, however, rejected the petition, observing that the Maharashtra GR cannot be challenged on the ground that the CBSE schools and other states have prescribed the norm of the completion of five years of age.
However, the children of both the petitioners will be eligible for admission to Class 1 this year.
The state education department issued a new GR on September 18, pushing the referral date of September 30 to December 31 for this academic year.
The policy directive will lessen the cut-off age for admission to Class 1 by three months this academic year.
