Students under 7 years by December 2023 to be admitted to grade 1: Ministry

The Ministry of Education has announced that students who have turned six years old but are under the age of seven by December of last year will be given placements in grade 1 this year.

Earlier, for grade one, placement was given to students who are six years old and under seven years by January 1 of the academic year. However, in the last two years, when the academic year was changed to August, students who were seven years of age by December were admitted to grade 1.

The current 2023 academic year will end in April with the changes this government has decided to bring to the new academic year. The new academic year 2024 will begin on May 26. This has again changed the admission criteria for grade 1.

The ministry yesterday sent a circular to schools on the procedures for admission and transfer of students from one school to another for the new academic year.

Age criteria for school enrollment in 2024:

- Baby Nursery: Completed two years of age and under three years by December 31, 2023

- Nursery: Completed three years of age and under four by December 31, 2023

- LKG: Completed four years of age and under five by December 31, 2023

- UKG: Completed five years of age and under six by December 31, 2023

All students who have completed LKG in the 2023-2024 academic year will be promoted to UKG in the new academic year 2024 (starting May 26, 2024).

- Grade 1: Students must have completed six years of age and be under seven by December 31, 2023

All students who have completed UKG in the 2023-2024 academic year will be promoted to Grade 1 in the new academic year 2024 (starting May 26, 2024).

While admitting students to LKG, students will be checked to ensure they are four years old by the last date of the deadline for admission to the academic year, the circular said.

Students who are four years after the start of the academic year will not be admitted to LKG during the current academic year.

The Ministry has decided to allow students to be admitted to LKG if the parents of four-year-old students request it by March this year.

No student will repeat in the grade they are in unless there is a special circumstance or a general consensus, and parents can submit requests to the ministry through the school.

In such cases, a student can repeat only after obtaining written permission from the Ministry based on the documents submitted.