Enrolling children aged under 3 in preschools illegal: Gujarat high court

A group of parents seeking admission for their children challenged a Gujarat government notification stipulating six years as the minimum age for class 1 admissions in the academic year 2023-24

Parents enrolling children aged under three in preschools are committing an “illegal act”, the Gujarat high court has said while dismissing petitions challenging the state government’s notification stipulating six years as the minimum age for class 1 admissions in the academic year 2023-24.

The petitioners argued the June 1 cutoff date would deny approximately 900000 children the right to education. (Shutterstock)

A group of parents seeking admission for their children aged under six by June 1 challenged the notification dated January 31, 2020.

“The contention that the children are school ready as they have completed 3 years of elementary education in a pre-school having been admitted in the Academic Session 2020-21, therefore, does not impress us at all,” a bench of chief justice Sunita Agarwal and justice N V Anjaria said in their order on August 11. A copy of the order was made available online on Tuesday.

The petitioners argued the June 1 cutoff date would deny approximately 900000 children the right to education under the Constitution’s Article 21A and the Right to Education (RTE) Act. They requested the court to allow an exemption to children with three years of preschooling.

The court cited the RTE Act and said a child aged six is eligible for admission to a neighbourhood school for free and compulsory education until completing elementary education. It added the right conferred under Article 21A and the RTE Act begins after a child turns six. The court noted the National Education Policy 2020 also recognises the importance of early childhood care and education for children aged under six as over 85% of a child’s brain development occurs in these early years.

“A bare perusal of Rule 8 [of the RTE Act] shows that there is a prohibition for admission of a child in a pre-school who has not completed 3 years of age as of June 1 of the academic year. Three years of early childhood care and education in a preschool prepares a child to take admission in the first standard in a formal school,” the court said.

The petitioners admitted their children to preschools before they turned three. The court said the minimum age requirement under the RTE has been enforced in Gujarat.

The court said a petition challenging Rule 8 of the RTE Act was turned down in 2013. “The petitioner...parents of children, who have not attained the age of 6 years as of 1st June of the year 2023, cannot seek any leniency or indulgence, as they are guilty of the violation of the mandate of RTE Rules, 2012, which is in line with the RTE Act, 2009,” the court said.