Pleas challenging the minimum age criteria of six years for admission to Class I in Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) for the upcoming session were dismissed by the Delhi High Court on Monday, April 11.
Justice Rekha Palli was the one dealing with petitions which argued that the sudden change in the minimum age requirement to six years, as opposed to five years which was the requirement previously, by the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) was not just unreasonable but arbitrary. She said that she is dismissing the petitions, as per a report in PTI.
On either Monday or Tuesday, the detailed order will be made available, Justice Palli informed.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma, who was representing the central government, argued that there was no “vested right” in the petitioners to seek admission to KV. He also added that they will be eligible to seek admissions to KV next year.
Previously, the senior advocate had presented the argument that the decision was not sudden at all as it is in compliance with the National Education Policy (NEP) which came in the year 2020 and that the policy is not under challenge.
He implored the court not to direct as the order would then impact the whole of India and create heterogeneity among students between the ages of five to seven.
The Additional Solicitor General pointed out that already, 21 states have implemented the six-plus regime for students of Class I. He also mentioned that some uniformity needs to be ensured when it comes to admission age because KVs are for central government employees who are transferred quite frequently.
Appearing for one of the petitioners, a five-year-old girl, was Lawyer Ashok Agarwal. He argued on Monday that the authorities can't deprive her of her right to education by the way of a policy change.
Without any advance notice, the change in age criteria is prejudicial to the interest of students who, by all means, have the right to take part in the process of admission.
The lawyer also pointed out that first, the National Education Policy (NEP) needs to be implemented at the pre-primary level and it can't be directly imposed on those students who are going to enter Class I.
In the petition, the petitioner had said that the change in age requirement was in violation of the right to education guaranteed to the petitioner under Articles 14, 21, and 21-A of the Constitution as well as under the provisions of the Delhi School Education Act, 1973 and Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009
It was the claim of a UKG student, a petitioner, that all of a sudden, KVS has changed the admission criteria for Class I to six years. It had done this by uploading the guidelines for admissions on its portal just four days before the process of admission commenced last month.
The petition called the change arbitrary, discriminatory, unjust, unreasonable and without the authority of law. It also mentioned how it did not provide enough time for parents or guardians to make alternative arrangements.
Earlier, Agarwal had also argued how there are other central government schools like Army Public Schools, which continue to follow the five years regime, and not six years, as the minimum age for admission to Class I.
The Government of Delhi informed the court that the age criteria for admission to Class I in its schools was still five years and it has nothing to do with KVs.
