Jaipur: The state education department has reduced the age of admission in Class I to 5 years from 6 years ahead of the new academic session.
This year, the state govt will start the academic session in govt schools from April I instead of July, aligning it with private schools. This is being done to increase enrolment in govt schools.
During the previous academic session, the minimum age for admission to Class I was fixed at six years. Consequently, children who were five years old-or those over five but under six years of age-were unable to secure admission to Class I in schools. Due to this, over 73,000 schools saw a decline in enrolment last year.
To ensure that enrolment increases this year, a door-to-door outreach campaign is being conducted.
Teams comprising Anganwadi workers, teachers, school staff, and local personnel are conducting door-to-door surveys to identify children in the 3 to 18 age group and ensure their enrolment in schools.
This year, the department is focusing on securing admission into Class I for children aged 5 to 6-especially those currently enrolled at anganwadi centres-so that they join formal education from the beginning.
Officials said that this year, data from Poshan Tracker of the ICDS dept has been utilised for identification and mapping of eligible children for enrolment from Anganwadi to Grade I. For the door-to-door survey, over 14,000 officers and 4 lakh teachers have been deployed.
“This extensive public outreach is being done to guarantee that no child is deprived of education and that the message of education reaches every family,” said a senior official from education department.
Officials added that for the new session, workbooks for Classes 3-5 have been redesigned and updated as per the new academic strategy.
