From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bangalore, Dec 10: Children below 5 years as on May 31 cannot join school under Karnataka’s new admission policy, which comes into effect from the next academic year.

Gone are the days when child prodigies or children of influential and affluent parents getting admission in schools at a tender age flouting all norms.

Under the new admission policy formulated by the B S Yeddyurappa regime for implementation from the 2010-11 academic year in the state, it has been made mandatory for all children seeking admission for the first standard in all the government, aided and private primary schools to attain the minimum age of 5 years as on May 31.

"We want to put an end to the practice of tiny tots getting admitted in schools due to parental pressure or because of family compulsions, especially in cases where both hushand and wife are working and have nobody to look after the children,’’ the primary and secondary education minister Kageri Visveshwara Hegde said.

He pointed out that a large number of children get enrolled for the first standard before attaining age of 5. ``Over 17,000 students, who completed 10th standard in April 2009, had been enrolled for the first standard before completion of 5 years,’’ he said.

Tiny tots should enjoy the first few years and should not be burdened with schooling, he said making it clear that only those children who attained the age of 5 as on May 31 will be eligible to seek admission for the first standard in all schools, including aided or unaided.

About 10 lakh students seek admission for the first standard in the State every year.

However, the minister clarified that the new rule was not applicable for students who had already enrolled to the school in the last academic year (2009-10).

The Education Department would issue circulars to all block education officers, school head masters and principals directing them to strictly adhere to the new admission rules of the government while enrolling children for the first standard.

Parents have to produce date of birth certificates or provide a written statement declaring completion of age of kids as on May 31, Kageri said.

Making a distinction of voluntary and compulsory admissions, the minister said parents can enrol students on reaching age of 5 under voluntary admission and in the compulsory admission, the parents should enrol students on attaining age of 5 years and 10 months.

"If parents enrol their kinds to school before the age of five then such admissions would be declared illegal,’’ he warned.

Several surveys, educationists and experts have suggested that only children reached age of 5 should be allowed to enrol for the first standard. Unlike the lower kinder garden or nursery schools, which were mostly following activity based type of learning and games, he explained that the formal educational system in schools was based on teaching, writing and learning.

A large number of students below 5 years of age would not develop physical and mental fitness to learn. The children possess ability to grasp and understand issues only after the age of 5 according to the findings of several academic surveys by experts, educationists and even child specialists.

Asked about the monitoring system, the minister said all school managements have been directed to provide details of date of birth, parents name and address to the department soon after the completion of admission process in the academic year.

A centralised computer system would be established to monitor the admissions in each school, he said.

He said the government proposed to upgrade PUC colleges in the state by augmenting the current facilities and quality of education.  The colleges were currently ranked according to available facilities.

There are 500 `C' grade colleges, whose facilities needed to be enhanced, he said.

As part of the government’s initiative to promote excellence in education at the secondary level, he said the department would award a computer to three students per educational district who score the highest marks in the SSLC examination from this year.