Supreme Court Upholds 6 Years Minimum Age Criteria For Class 1 Admissions In Kendriya Vidyalayas

The Supreme Court has upheld a judgment of the Delhi High Court dismissing the pleas challenging the decision of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanghatan(KVS) to increase the minimum age for Class 1 admissions as 6 years from 5 years from the academic year 2022-2023.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MM Sundresh dismissed a special leave petition filed by few parents challenging the April 11 judgment of a single bench of the Delhi High Court. The bench noted that few other petitioners had approached the Division Bench against the single bench verdict and those intra-court appeals were also dismissed. The bench said that it was in "full agreement" with the single bench's view and that the Division Bench "rightly" dismissed the appeals.

The bench observed in the order passed on April 25 as follows :

"We are informed that the other petitioners preferred a Letter Patent Appeal before the Division Bench of the High Court, and we may say, rightly so, and that appeal has also been dismissed on 13.04.2022.

We have also gone through the order of the learned Single Judge assailed before us and are in full agreement with the view taken and give our imprimatur to the same.

The Special Leave Petition is accordingly, dismissed".

The KVS had argued before the Delhi High Court that the minimum age for Class 1 admission was increased in accordance with the National Education Policy 2020. The KVS also refuted the argument that the decision violates the Right To Education Act.

"...the Right to Education Act recognizes the entry age of Class 1 to be 6 years or more. Further, the age criteria for admission in class/ grade-1 should therefore be in consonance with the NEP 2020 because it is settled law that the executive has the competence to decide how a policy should be shaped or implemented", the KVS told the High Court in an affidavit.

On April 11, 2022, a single bench of Justice Rekha Palli dismissed the petitions approving the stand of the KVS.

"No doubt, the policy which was formulated in 2020 is yet to be implemented across schools in Delhi, despite the same having been already implemented in 21 states but once the statute i.e., the RTE Act, 2009 in itself places the KVS in a separate category coupled with the fact that all branches of KVS across the country, being run by the same management are obliged to follow the uniform criteria, the anxiousness of the KVS to introduce the age criteria of 6 years in accordance with the NEP, 2020 is well understandable."

Click here to read/download the order