Parents puzzled about the age criteria to enrol their toddlers

Parents become anxious about their kids’ schooling when they just turn one. How early do the parents need to enrol their toddlers in school?

Schools have set their own limits as the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has not laid clearcut rules on the age criteria for pre-nursery, nursery and even class one admissions. The department, last January, had announced norms for kindergarten and standard one, however, the order was altered midway leading to much confusion.

The mess is added by top city-based schools whose criteria vary while offering admissions for pre-nursery.

Depending on the school, admission ranges from two years six months to three years 10 months. For LKG, the range is from three and a half years to four years ten months.

Many managements and teachers say that parents request them to admit children young, citing that their child’s date of birth falls a few months short of the cut-off date. But, early childhood educators are of the view that kids should not be enrolled in schools before the age of four.

“During every admission season, parents plead with us to admit their child even though they are underage, as they fear that they may lose out on one year. But I explain to them that enrolling a child who is not ready for schooling would make it very difficult for the child to cope. Despite this, they insist that we admit them”, said Manilal Carvalho, principal, Delhi Public School, Bengaluru east.

Another dilemma that the parents face is whether to enrol their kids in the ore school or nursery section of a full-fledged school. For instance, Pooja S, parent of a two and a half years old has decided to enrol her daughter in the nursery section of a famous school. “I did not want my child to travel many kilometres and be in a formal school environment. But I decided as it would ease the transition to LKG. More importantly, I can avoid the hassle of trying to obtain admission in LKG”, she said.

Ms Carvalho said that many schools have more seats in LKG as compared to the nursery.

Also, early educators feel that many schools managements and preschools lack sufficient training.

Rajalakshmi MS, Head of the Department, Early Childhood Education and administration course, VHD Central Institute of Home Science, states that preschool should not introduce formal writing until the age of five. She said, “The fine motor coordination and neuromuscular development of the child would not have set in until five years. There is a need to ensure that pre-schools teach age-appropriate skills. While they can allow them to read and colour using crayons, they should avoid asking the child to use pencil until the age of five.”

She also said, “I have seen many children in UKG being taught the tables. The child can grasp and will learn it by rote, but without understanding anything. Therefore, there is a need to be very careful about what the child learns in the first few years as they are the formative period.”

She indicated that there is no regulatory mechanism and uniformity and each preschool has its own syllabus and curriculum.

DPI promises new norms

As the DPI has not set any clear cut criteria for admission procedures, schools have set their own limits. Parents are worried about the lack of standardisation.

Last January, the department had issued a circular during admissions under the RTE quota that the lower age limit for LKG admissions would be three and the upper limit would be four years and six months. For class one admission, the lower age limit was five and the upper was six years six months.

But, in March, the department withdrew the circular and set the upper limit for both LKG and class one admission by three months which have puzzled the parents.

While Section 20 of the Karnataka Education Act 1983 highlights how the age should be computed, it fails to fix an upper and lower limit for admissions.

Officials stated that both the orders were issued in the form of circulars and so, they have little legal binding. They are hoping to solve this issue shortly.