Bhubaneswar: The school and Mass Education (S&ME) department today clarified that the admission age of children to Class I in Odisha schools must be in between five to seven years as of March 31, a circular issued by the S&ME in this regard mentioned.

However, the age limit can be relaxed up to nine years only in case of differently-abled children seeking admission, the S&ME notification (No-7644, dated-05.04.2023) stated.

“Present situation is a little bit confusing as Kendriya Vidyalayas take admission of children aged six years in Class I. At the same time, schools under Odisha Board are taking admission of children aged five in the same class,” Primary School Teachers’ Association president Brahmananda Moharana said.

“We have not yet received any communication from the Central government pertaining to the age of admission to Class I. Hence, we will continue with what was previously notified vide office letter No-6554, dated-04.04.2022,” S&ME Minister Samir Ranjan Dash expressed.

It is pertinent to mention, going by New Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Centre had asked all states and Union Territories (UTs) last year to make six years the minimum age for admission to Class I.